Quote of the Day: The Great Lakes Are Indeed Very Great

The Great Lakes are frozen solid! But under President Trump's leadership they will all be thawed out for the enjoyment of the people. And thanks to Trump's expertise in building things, this thaw will take months, not years.MODIS/NASA/ZUMA Wire/ZUMA

From President Donald Trump, speaking to the good citizens of Michigan:

I support the Great Lakes. Always have! They are beautiful. They are big, very deep, record deepness, right?

President Trump: “I support the Great Lakes. Always have. They’re beautiful. They’re big. Very deep. Record deepness, right? And I’m going to get… full funding of $300 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiatives.” https://t.co/XmJB00MEjl pic.twitter.com/IQiJBfILMa

— The Hill (@thehill) March 29, 2019

Well, no. Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world and Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the US. According to Wikipedia, Lake Superior is the deepest Great Lake, making the list at the 37th deepest lake in the world.

Which is not to say that the Great Lakes aren’t great! They are. And President Trump, as usual, is right to point that out, even if nitpicking naysayers like me are inevitably going to attack him.

And why was Trump talking about his love for the Great Lakes? James Hohmann explains:

In Grand Rapids last night, Trump announced that he’s going to make sure the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is fully funded. Trump’s budget earlier this month proposed slashing that program, which funds the cleanup of the Great Lakes, by 90 percent — from $300 million to $30 million….During his first year in office, Trump called for eliminating the program entirely.

Apparently this is Trump’s new MO: allow his staff to propose huge budget cuts, and then loudly “override his people” when they turn out to be unpopular. That produces headlines like this one: