OTTAWA—The United States is led by a “fanatical” and “unspeakable” president whose election marks the “true end of the American Empire,” former prime minister Jean Chrétien says.

Chrétien, who served as prime minister between 1993 and 2003, has no kind words for U.S. President Donald Trump, expressing amazement that a world leader could so willingly lie and distort facts.

“Can you believe it when he talks? That’s the fundamental question. For me, I never suspected that Clinton or Bush were lying to me,” Chrétien said of former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

“We might not talk about something, refuse to talk about something. But lying? I never expected any of them not to talk truthfully with me,” Chrétien said in an interview to mark the release of his latest book, “My Stories, My Times,” later this month.

“For me, in the House of Commons to be accused of lying, it would have been a terrible offence. For him, it’s so what,” Chrétien said.

Chrétien has written two previous books on his four decades in political life. He describes this most recent offering as a series of short vignettes and anecdotes.

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“When I was fed up listening to the nonsense ... of the President of the United States, I decided to gain my sanity in going to my table with my pen in my study,” he said.

The book relates meetings with French President Jacques Chirac, the influence of mentor Mitchell Sharp, his dealings with Pierre Trudeau and his time as Minister of Indian Affairs, as the post was once known.

But the book is a burnishing of his legacy too, as he describes his role in everything from the naming of Air Canada to the creation of national parks and constitutional talks.

In the latest book, Chrétien writes that Americans made a “monumental error” in voting for Trump over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.

“I fear that Hillary’s defeat, and the arrival of the fanatical Trump, mark the true end of the American Empire,” Chrétien wrote.

He praised Clinton as “very intelligent, very knowledgeable, always asking pertinent questions.”

Asked whether Clinton would have made a good president, he replied, “I think so.

“I would have voted for her because I thought she would have been better than the one they have now,” he told the Star.

In his book, Chrétien highlights his warm relationship with the Clintons, writing about a day he spent with the couple and their family in Quebec’s Eastern Township, a visit that had locals buzzing at the time.

He laments that it’s a “bad time for democracy” but so far does not see a rise of a right wing here in Canada that has seen elsewhere.

“You never have to take everything for granted. I don’t feel that you have a strong movement that way but you never know,” Chrétien said. “Compared to anybody else, we’re in a very good situation.”

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Chrétien insists he was never worried about the negotiations for a revised North American Free Trade Agreement, saying that the deeply integrated trade ties between Canada and the United States made it virtually impossible for Trump to make good on his vow to rip up the pact.

“He didn’t do it. He talked a lot ... at the end he could not undo the omelette. The Auto Pact exists since 1965, long before NAFTA and it was working well. And he could not undo that,” Chrétien said.

He said the new deal, known as United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, is the “same deal as before with two or three little changes.”

He said the “little bit” of concessions on dairy to allow U.S. producers more access to the Canadian market were in line with previous trade deals with the European Union and the Pacific trade agreement.

Chrétien writes in the book about some of the backroom discussions around the patriation of the constitution and his own push to include the notwithstanding clause in order to get provincial backing for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Chrétien says he has no regrets about the inclusion of the clause, despite recent threats by Ontario and Quebec to use the controversial measure. But Chrétien says there’s good reason it’s been so rarely used.

“That means you have to say ‘notwithstanding the Charter of Rights, I’m doing this.’ So you’re saying ‘I’m not respecting the Charter of Rights. I’m discriminating.’ So you need good reason to discriminate,” Chrétien said.

Premier Doug Ford’s government in Ontario moved to use the notwithstanding clause to push ahead its legislation to shrink the size of Toronto’s city council but stood down when a court ruling backed the provincial position.

Quebec’s incoming Coalition Avenir Québec government — which won the province’s election last week — is threatening to use it to make good on its vow to ban some public servants from wearing religious symbols.

“When Ford tried to do it, there was quite a lot of storm. He could have done it but he would have to pay a political price. I’m sure the people around him are very relieved they didn’t have to use it,” Chrétien said.

Chrétien, now 84 and 15 years out of politics, says he doesn’t watch much of the political debates today, just “enough to remain informed. Not enough to be preoccupied.”

He demurs when asked for his observations. “I’m not a Monday morning quarterback.” He says he talks “once in a while” with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“But we don’t have a regular thing and I don’t think it is advisable,” he said, noting the advice Pierre Trudeau gave him when he took over the reins of the Liberal Party, and later became prime minister.

“He said ‘Jean, you will do it differently than I would do it. Don’t feel obliged to talk to me’,” Chrétien said. “He did not want to interfere.”

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