Trump lies so often that journalists tied themselves up in an extended discussion of when it was appropriate to use "lie," and when it was better to deploy such euphemisms as "misstatement" or "fabrication." We should stick to the short and simple word. Allowing Trump any slack only encourages more lying.

Although fibbing with numbers is an old trick, the etiquette of budget discussions leans toward references to "rosy scenarios" and the like. But how can you explain a budget that counts $2 trillion in claimed economic growth twice? It's used once to "pay for" massive tax cuts for the wealthy, and another time to paint Trump's budget as reaching balance in a decade.

This can't just be careless math.

Companies that make comparable errors in their prospectuses for public offerings can face legal action. No wonder former Obama administration economic adviser Seth Hanlon called this plan "the Bernie Madoff Budget."

Another sign of fiscal fraud: the budget's blithe assumption that we will hit 3 percent annual GDP growth over an extended period. That would be nice. But no respectable economic forecaster thinks this is credible. Trump is asking us to bank our country's fiscal future on his signature catchphrase, "Believe me." We should know by now that we can't.