He wasn't lying. He just doesn't know anything. If you actually look at what this presidency says, it's pretty apparent that they're all pretty ignorant of just about everything. Which makes the fact that they have all of this power even more scary. At a moment's notice they could make an ignorant proclamation that harms the entire country, like unilaterally declaring 50% tariffs or declaring war on a nation that effectively controls most of the world's oil shipping.

Saying things that are false while maintaining willful ignorance because your falsity benefits you is lying in my book.