Trump declares his own government's statements about census defeat to be 'FAKE!'

Another morning, another tweeted declaration by Donald Trump that everyone else in his own administration is a liar.

The News Reports about the Department of Commerce dropping its quest to put the Citizenship Question on the Census is incorrect or, to state it differently, FAKE! We are absolutely moving forward, as we must, because of the importance of the answer to this question.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 3, 2019

This is at direct odds with at least two separate confirmations by government officials that the administration has abandoned its "quest" to add a question asking the citizenship status of each respondent. Department of Justice attorney Kate Bailey confirmed that the 2020 census forms would be printed without the question; Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross issued a statement saying that, while he "strongly" disagrees with the Supreme Court ruling rejecting the administration's flimsy justifications for the adding it, "The Census Bureau has started the process of printing the decennial questionnaires without the question."

As usual, then, Donald Trump either (1) does not actually know what his own government is doing or (2) is lying to the public on purpose.

It is possible that Trump is so infuriated by his government's decision to move forward with the census printing—it had missed a Monday deadline for doing so before reversing course on Tuesday—that he intends to order it to halt the printing process and continue the battle. This would jeopardize the census itself, a massive undertaking requiring years of preparation and the printing of many millions of forms and documents. It is also possible Trump has no such plan.

It is yet another mystery, on a day when Washington is already reeling with speculation on just what the hell is going on inside the White House.