Do we need a term to describe someone who regularly says things that are untrue?

Toddler?

trump.

I think “liar” is just fine.

I disagree with your line of thinking. Liar is accurate and cannot be denied or excused.

A Shifster?

Shyster !
Shyster is a slang word for someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way, especially in the practice of law, sometimes also politics or business.

It fits. @chyna

For those who think liar is appropriate, how can you know for certain that the person is lying? Why get into that argument? I think it is pretty damning to say that someone in authority is saying things that are untrue. That allows a news reporter to make claims that are indisputable.

” Mendacious”?

Psychopath

inveterate liar

No. “Habitual liar” is good enough.

Politician

“Pathological liar” would be how I would designate someone like you describe.

Bullshit artist.

Pathological liar.

Liar is correct. “Regular” in the description clinches it. The causes are irrelevant. Liar is concise and accurate.

I’d go with prevaricator. Since you’ve used Trump as the example, most of the people on this thread will gravitate to the most offensive term possible which negates your question. Most politicians would fit the Prevaricator definition when speaking or writing on any controversial issue.

Meaning of prevaricator “1. To speak or write evasively”

Who here will argue that Trump is unworthy of the most offensive term possible? The bandit above has the perfect modifier with “inveterate” liar, which simply means reliably habitual and unlikely to change. The description is actually exaggerated kindness in Trump’s csse.

There is nothing evasive about “I am a stable genius” or “Mexico will pay for it”, “best economy in history”, “lowest black unemployment ever” “right up there with Washington and Lincoln”......

Regarding Trump, I don’t think he’s a pathological liar. I think he defines lying differently than most people. Men who cheat, they often come from a culture like that. They make promises and say things to make people happy and they think it’s fine. They feel they are good people doing the right thing.

I’ll give you an example. A cheating husband who thinks it’s very normal to cheat. He lies to his wife, because he knows she will get upset. Even if he is sick of his wife and totally not interested, let’s say she is the mother of his children, and he continues to financially support her and be a couple for the children. Macho men like this usually live in countries where the wife can be left with nothing if divorced. Him staying, and supporting her, is living up to his commitment and responsibilities in his mind. Of course, in America the wife has some protections under the law financially, but anyway I’m just describing how these things can be framed in ones mind.

I know people who make promises they can’t keep, but when they say the promise it’s because they truly want to fulfill the promise, they themselves are in denial that it’s impossible.

Mostly, I think Trump purposefully lies, and he knows he’s doing it. I think he looks at it as using the system, or working the system. That it is how the game is played, and it is a justified means to an end in his mind

Maybe we could call him a compulsive liar? I still say he’s just gaming the system.

@stanleybmanly – I don’t see your point. “I am a stable genius” and “right up there with Washington and Lincoln”, are subjective rather than lies. You can argue but not prove one way or the other. “Mexico will pay for it” can happen a number of ways and while I agree it didn’t happen as a direct payment for the wall, Mexico has paid a good portion of it in tariffs. “best economy in history” is arguable and would require some definition to sort out. As for “lowest black unemployment ever”, according to the Washington Post, that’s true. You’d need a better argument to say “LIES”.

@JLeslie I don’t think trump is gaming the system. I think he’s an out and out liar and you giving him an out doesn’t make him any less a liar or piece of shit.

@chyna Don’t get me wrong, it still makes him a liar to me. I hate men like this. I could never be married to someone like this, I dated that type of person for years in my teens, and it’s horrible. I had never seen anything like it, my family is as honest as the day is long, I was so unprepared for it. My FIL is a little like this too, it’s awful. It doesn’t affect me very much, but it is completely destructive to relationships. Not a good trait in a president either.

I knew a pathological liar in high school. He was different than these men I describe. He lied about everything. Totally unimportant things. It was different somehow. Very self destructive. Different to me somehow, I can’t really describe the difference. He really needed psychiatric help. Still horrible either way.