OTTAWA – After boasting that he made up details about Canada-U.S. trade in a conversation with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, U.S. President Donald Trump doubled down on the claim.

The stunning comments, which were caught on tape, have baffled Canadian officials who say they don’t know what conversation Trump was talking about.

In a tweet on Thursday morning, Trump said that the U.S. does have a trade deficit with Canada, and many other countries.

"P.M. Justin Trudeau of Canada, a very good guy, doesn’t like saying that Canada has a Surplus vs. the U.S. (negotiating), but they do...they almost all do...and that’s how I know!" Trump tweeted.

Though, according to the 2018 White House "Economic Report of the President," which has Trump's signature, Canada is one of a few countries that the U.S. runs a trade surplus with.

"The United States ran a trade surplus of $2.6 billion with Canada on a balance-of-payments basis," the document reads.

This social media statement comes after The Washington Post reported Wednesday that, in a fundraising speech in Missouri, Trump boasted about making up claims that his country has a trade deficit with Canada while meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

"I didn't even know ... I had no idea,” Trump can be heard saying on the recording, published by the D.C. newspaper.

At the fundraiser, Trump said that Trudeau disputed that the U.S. does not have a deficit and the president then dispatched an aide to assess the prime minister’s counterpoint.

"Well, sir, you're actually right," Trump can be heard saying in the recording. "We have no deficit but that doesn't include energy and timber and when you do, we lose $17 billion a year. It's incredible."

The Canadian government doesn’t know what discussion Trump was bragging about. An official told The Canadian Press that the conversation may have happened by phone, and that the topic has come up several times between the two leaders.

In a press briefing Thursday, White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders shot down the suggestion that the president fibbed. When a reporter asked about Trump lying to a foreign leader, Sanders backed the president’s claims about a deficit.

"The president was accurate. Because there is a trade deficit. That was the point he was making -- he didn't have to look at the specific figures," Sanders said.

"Because he knew there is a trade deficit."

In a tweet following the press conference, Sanders clarified that the president was talking about trade in goods.

Indeed, if services are deleted from the equation -- a calculation that would misrepresent the overall trade relationship -- the U.S. runs a deficit with Canada.

Quoting the U.S. Trade Representative Office, Canada's ambassador to the United States David MacNaughton tweeted Thursday that the U.S. goods and services trade surplus with Canada was $12.5 billion in 2016, including energy and lumber.

Canada, the U.S. and Mexico are amid ongoing NAFTA renegotiations. Trump has repeatedly claimed that the U.S. has a trade deficit with Canada and has pledged to get a fair deal for Americans.

John Manley, president of the Business Council of Canada and a former Foreign Affairs minister under the Chretien government, says Canadian officials know who they’re dealing with when they meet with Trump.

“We know we’re dealing with a negotiator, a self-styled bully negotiator. He’s written books about it. Whether there’s a surplus or deficit between Canada and the U.S. – immaterial,” Manley told CTV News.

Responding to Trump's comments, Adam Austen, spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said that the two countries have a "balanced and mutually beneficial trading relationship," and that Canada is “energetically” working to get a deal that is good for all involved.

"According to their own statistics, the U.S. runs a trade surplus with Canada," Austen said in an email to CTV News.

Over the course of the trade talks, Trump has also called Canada “brutal” on trade and has said that Canada “does not treat us [the U.S.] right.”

Former U.S. ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman entered the conversation on Twitter Thursday, apologizing to Canadians on Trump's behalf, calling his comments "reckless" and "lying."

"Canada is our best friend. Our most trusted ally. Our best trading partner. Mr President. This is not right," Heyman tweeted.

With files from The Canadian Press and CTV’s Senior Political Correspondent Glen McGregor