Do I think Trudeau has his finger on the pulse of twinning HWY 1 through Rogers Pass, and could he name one of the dozens of contractors currently working there, probably not. However in the case of Trump he wasn't playing in the dirt with the contractors, no, what I pointed out was that he was hobnobbing in the Hamptons with the CFO of the We Build the Wall group and some of their associates, then denied knowing them. His son Eric was photographed with the husband (one of the men arrested) of the groups CFO during at Trump's own home, Mar-A-Logo, where he was garnering support for his groups project, and Trump denied knowledge of the project. Trump's son Don Jr. spoke at a fundraiser (with the arrested husband of the CFO) praising the group and their efforts, and has himself been photographed with the (again, arrested) husband of the CFO of the group while visiting the wall, and has left testimonials on the groups website, along with his girlfriend, praising their efforts, and Trump denied knowledge of the project.
So that's the distinction for me. Trump and certainly his sons were aware of the group and the people in charge of it. They noshed with them in the Hamptons while discussing the project, rubbed elbows with them at Mar-A-Logo and attended their fundraisers. Oh and one of the other guys that was arrested, Steve something or other, was a past member of Trump's administration. And Trump denied knowing all of them save one, and claimed he knew nothing about the project.
I think even our drama teacher leader would have a hard time wiggling out of that one.