We know the president-elect isn’t much of a reader, but “Alice in Wonderland” seems to have had a lasting impact on him.

All through the campaign, Donald Trump said, “Build the wall! Build the wall! Build the wall!” and his supporters chanted it gleefully. He said again, on his “victory tour” in Cincinnati on Dec. 1, that he would build that wall on the Mexican border: “We will construct a great wall at the border, dismantle the criminal cartel and liberate our communities from the epidemic of gang violence and drugs pouring into our nation.”

Then in the Dec. 8 Press Herald, there was the headline: “Trump team: ‘Wall’ doesn’t mean an actual wall” (Page A5). Which is where “Alice in Wonderland” comes in.

From “Through the Looking Glass,” Chapter 6:

” ‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.’

” ‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’

” ‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master – that’s all.’ ”

Then there’s the idea of building a 1,933-mile wall in the first place. Which brings to mind “Through the Looking Glass,” Chapter 5:

“Alice laughed. ‘There’s no use trying,’ she said. ‘One can’t believe impossible things.’

” ‘I daresay you haven’t had much practice,’ said the Queen. ‘When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.’ ”

If Trump doesn’t remember reading “Alice in Wonderland,” well, that’s no surprise.

He doesn’t remember promising Carrier employees that he’d save their jobs.

Donna Halvorsen

South Portland

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