Most presidential candidates spend their entire careers, if not their lives from adolescence, preparing for the role. They rise up the ladder of elected offices, perfect a public face, and prepare themselves to win and to govern. The Trump calculation, quite a conscious one, was different. The candidate and his top lieutenants believed they could get all the benefits of almost becoming president without having to change their behavior or their worldview one whit.

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Adapted from Michael Wolff’s book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” published by Henry Holt & Co. on January 9, 2018.

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