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Trump has consistently and cleverly referred to Halper as a “spy,” rather than an “informant,” which is what he really was. And he has suggested, falsely, that the “spy” was “placed very early into my campaign.” Trump alleged in a tweet Wednesday that the “Criminal Deep State,” which for some reason is apparently persecuting him, has been “caught in a major SPY scandal the likes of which this country may never have seen before!”

Right-wing media and Trump’s political allies have joined the chorus, which is meant to sow doubt on the Mueller probe’s legitimacy. And I believe the campaign is having at least some success – all because of the word “spy.”

According to The Associated Press, “Trump told one ally (last) week that he wanted ‘to brand’ the informant a ‘spy,’ believing the more nefarious term would resonate more in the media and with the public.” He was right. His supporters have gleefully adopted the term. Media outlets have called Trump on his distortion, but in order to refute the word “spy” it is necessary to use the term – which has the counterproductive effect of reinforcing the word, through repetition.

Trump’s success in making some people believe his campaign was “spied on” does not deter Mueller from his appointed rounds. But it can incrementally shake confidence in Mueller’s findings – unless he completely exonerates Trump, in which case the president will paint him as the noblest and finest public servant in the history of the republic.

As The Washington Post’s Karen Tumulty wrote in January of last year, Trump came up with the phrase “Make America Great Again” on Nov. 7, 2012, the day after Mitt Romney’s loss to Barack Obama. Five days later, Trump applied for a trademark. This was back in 2012. He’s good at this.

You will recall how Trump branded his opponents for the Republican nomination with mocking nicknames – “Little” Marco Rubio, “Low Energy” Jeb Bush, etc. It was juvenile and undignified, but it served to diminish the other contenders, letting Trump set himself apart and above.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. is trying to give Trump a dose of his own medicine. What Trump calls “Spygate” should really be known as “Lie-gate,” Schiff says, because it is built on falsehoods. Schiff should get points for making the effort, but he’s already a bit late.

Trump understands, and seizes, the first-mover advantage that comes from coining definitional terms. “Lie-gate” is a decent counterpunch. “Spygate,” by contrast, was a roundhouse sucker punch – not nice, not polite, but effective.

Beating Trump at his own game requires actually playing that game. This means acting instead of always reacting – it means defining the linguistic terrain before he can. And it means understanding that words don’t just describe reality. They shape it.