Donald Trump accidentally told the truth in court

It's all a put-on.

(Donald Trump, in court)

Donald Trump’s testimony Monday at his civil trial case in New York was, by all accounts, an absolute circus.

He excoriated the judge. He attacked New York Attorney General Letitia James as a “political hack.” He expounded on his hatred of windmills. And he delivered a long encomium on his golf course in Scotland — calling it “an artistic expression.”

But, amid all of that, well, crap, the former president also told a truth. One that’s worth noting.

Asked about the massive exaggerations of his wealth in financial statements, Trump said this: “We have a disclaimer clause that says do your own due diligence, don’t under any circumstances count on anything in here.”

At another point, Trump pointed to his “very, very powerful” disclaimers to absolve himself of any guilt for inflating his wealth and assets.

Which, pretty amazing, right?

What Trump is telling us is that anyone who believed what he said he was worth on his financial statements — literally a statement of his finances — is a rube. That, of course, he was lying — and that the disclaimer made all of that clear.

Which seems bad in the context of a trial about filing false financial statements that you knew were false!

But I also think there’s a larger truth about Trump contained in that statement.

Consider this: One of the longest running debates about Trump is whether he actually believes his own bullshit. As in, does he really think there is a Deep State out to get him? Does he really think he won the last presidential election?

Or is he just running a long con — saying things that he knows not be true because a) it riles people up and b) he covers his own ass enough to give himself a patina of plausible deniability?

(Trump’s common formulation that “many people are saying” something false speaks to his always providing himself a bit of an out.)

I myself have gone back and forth on that question over the years.

Early in Trump’s emergence on the political scene, I was convinced he was doing a bit — a piece of performance art designed to draw attention to his personal brand and make himself some money in the process.

After all, Trump advocated for just this sort of approach to life in “The Art of the Deal.”

“People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular,” he wrote. “I call it truthful hyperbole. It’s an innocent form of exaggeration, and a very effective form of promotion.”

Truthful! Innocent! But I digress…

As Trump’s term as president went along — and the lies piled up — I switched my position. I would even go so far as to tell people that I believed he could pass a lie detector test on some of his most outrageous claims, that he had convinced himself — ala George Constanza — that it’s not a lie if you believe it.

Statements like the one Trump made Monday in court, however, make me think my initial position was the right one. That Trump does know what he is doing — and is always looking for ways to give himself just that little bit of cover to avoid being in the crosshairs.

I am not sure which option is worse, to be honest.

If Trump believes everything he says, we are dealing with someone who is deeply deluded about the state of affairs in the country and the world. Who believes there is a massive conspiracy underway to keep him from being elected president in 2024.

If he doesn’t, then the frontrunner to be the Republican nominee for president in 2024 is a dangerous huckster whose has honed his pitch to unwitting voters over a lifetime of practiced deceit.

Like I said: Two bad options — especially when you consider that Trump is no worse than a coin toss to be the next president of the United States.

Judging from his testimony on Monday, Trump appears to be in on the joke. The scary thing is that the millions of people who believe every word he says aren’t.