President Trump speaks to a meeting of the National Governors Association on Monday at the White House. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The American public has figured out President Trump is a scam artist. At least that’s what recent polling suggests. The Marist Poll shows:

Nearly six in ten Americans, 59%, report that they have little, if any, trust in President Donald Trump and his administration to deliver accurate and factual information to the public. This includes nearly four in ten, 38%, who have no trust at all in the administration to do so and 21% who have little faith in the White House to provide accurate information. Only 17% have a great deal of trust in the information provided by the Trump administration. An additional 22% have a good amount of confidence in Trump and his staff to be factual in their communication with the public. Partisan politics are in play. Most Democrats, 89%, distrust the information coming out of the Trump White House while most Republicans, 88%, trust those details. Nearly six in ten independents, 59%, doubt the veracity of the information disseminated by the Trump administration.

No wonder Trump viciously attacks the press. The media is more trusted than he is — by a long shot — by most Americans: “By more than two-to-one, Americans are more likely to say that they trust their favorite news source, 67%, than Donald Trump, 28%.” A majority of Republicans, Tea Party supporters, and conservatives trust the president more than their favorite news source, but between 32 and 47 percent of those groups do not. “Of note, white evangelical Christians divide with 49% saying they trust their favorite news source and 45% reporting they trust Trump.”

As for his favorite mode of communication, voters don’t like his Twitter use. (“[A]bout two-thirds of Americans, 66%, consider his use of the social media tool to be reckless and distracting. One in four, 25%, consider it to be effective and informative.”) Even among Republicans about 30 percent think his tweets are reckless and distracting.

The media is not quite as reviled as Trump would like to think. “A plurality of residents, 44%, assert Trump has been too tough on the media while 27% say he has not been tough enough. 23% report the president’s dealings with the press are ‘about right.'” He doesn’t get much sympathy for how the press treats him (” 37% say the news media has been too tough on the president while 32% believe they have not been tough enough. 24% think the news media has been appropriate”).

The numbers remind us that Trump wasn’t trusted in the campaign either; he simply had the good fortune to run against someone even less trusted than he was — and whose veracity was being put in issue by not merely partisans but by the FBI. Without Hillary Clinton for comparison, Trump’s own lack of veracity gets the condemnation it deserves. His attempt to turn the media into his foil — taking the place of “Crooked Hillary” — does not appear to be working. At this point, Americans don’t have much sympathy for the president.

The figures should alarm the White House, which needs for the public to believe Trump’s side of the story when it comes to Russia, health care, taxes and just about everything else. Telling voters over and over that he has no connections with Russia, for example, won’t end the matter. The voters do not seem disposed either simply to take Trump’s word that his tax, health care and other policies are good for them.

And finally, the problem gets worse as reality pokes through. What if there is evidence of Trump’s business dealings with Russian oligarchs or his health care plan doesn’t lower deductibles or his tax plan is a boon to the rich? Voters in all likelihood won’t, as Trump so often invites them, believe him rather than their own lyin’ eyes. The gap between Trump’s promises (bring back coal jobs, cover “everybody”) and what is remotely possible is so vast that he’s set up the public for tremendous disappointment if not anger when he cannot deliver. And when Trump turns to blame others, chances are the public just isn’t going to buy it.