… Mr. Trump, who has branded himself as everything from a world-class developer to a reality-television star to, later, a plausible presidential candidate, has long deployed what he described in his first book, “The Art of the Deal,” as “truthful hyperbole,” and others might call lies. …
But to the dismay of professional fact-checkers and his political opponents, the warnings about his erroneous claims did not matter at all to his supporters. If anything, they made those supporters question the news organizations that reported the falsehoods all the more.
What these well-honed habits will mean for Mr. Trump’s presidency is an open question, with vastly higher stakes. CONT.
Maggie Haberman, New York Times