Trump, in his own words

Excerpt of an interview Bob Woodward did with Trump in March of 2016. Look at his comments about Nixon being a criminal. Look at his speech patterns, and how frequently he feels the need to paint himself as a victim, and also to portray himself as an important, successful man. Look at how he talks about winning. And look at how frequently this reads like a conversation with a 5th grader trying to BS an essay test.

BW: Any . . .  . Before coming over, Bob and I have had lots of chats. And we were thinking about this, that you are running for the nomination in the Republican Party.

DT: Right.

BW: Which is the party of Lincoln and the party of Nixon. . . . And so we have this party that you are running to be the nominee in, and it’s got two heritages. Lincoln and Nixon.

DT: That’s true. That’s true.

BW: And why did Lincoln succeed? Thought about that at all?

DT: Well, I think Lincoln succeeded for numerous reasons. He was a man who was of great intelligence, which most presidents would be. But he was a man of great intelligence, but he was also a man that did something that was a very vital thing to do at that time. Ten years before or 20 years before, what he was doing would never have even been thought possible. So he did something that was a very important thing to do, and especially at that time. And Nixon failed, I think to a certain extent, because of his personality. You know? It was just that personality. Very severe, very exclusive. In other words, people couldn’t come in. And people didn’t like him. I mean, people didn’t like him.

BW: And he broke the law.

DT: And he broke the law, yeah. Yeah. He broke the law. Whether that’s insecurity . . .  .

BW: I mean, you listen to those tapes, and he’s a criminal.

DT: Yeah. Whether that’s — right. And he broke the law.

BW: And time and time again, break in, get the FBI on this, get the IRS on.

DT: Sure. Sure.

BW: I mean, it is an appalling legacy of criminality.

DT: Right.

BW: And at the end, the day he resigned, an amazing day, he gives that speech which is kind of free association about mom and dad.

DT:    Right.

BW: He’s sweating. And then he said, “Always remember: Others may hate you, but those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself.” The piston was hate.

DT: Well, and he was actually talking very much about himself, because ultimately, ultimately, that is what destroyed him. Hate is what destroyed him. And such an interesting figure. I mean, you would know that better than anybody. But such an interesting figure. And such a man of great talent. I mean, Nixon had great potential, great talent. Unfortunately it was a very sad legacy in the end. It turned out to be a very sad legacy. Such an interesting figure to study. I think. . . .

BW: Do you take any lessons from that? Because what did is he converted the presidency to an instrument of personal revenge.

DT:    Yeah.

BW: You’re my enemy, I’m going to get you. I’m going to get so-and-so on you.

DT:  Yeah. No, I don’t. I don’t see that. What I do see is — what I am amazed at is, I’m somebody that gets along with people. And sometimes I’ll notice, I’ll be, I have the biggest crowds. Actually we’ve purposefully kept the crowds down this past week. You know, we’ve gone into small venues and we’re turning away thousands and thousands of people, which I hate, but we didn’t want to have the protest. You know, when you have a room of 2,000 people, you can pretty much keep it without the protesters. When you have 21 or 25,000 people coming in, people can start standing up and screaming. What has been amazing to me — I’m a very inclusive person. I actually am somebody that gets along with people. And yet from a political standpoint, although I certainly have a lot of fans — you just said hello to Senator Sessions. Cruz and everybody wanted Senator Sessions as much as they’ve wanted anybody, and he’s a highly respected guy, great guy. And we have some— and he endorsed me. We have some amazing endorsements, some amazing people, but I’m amazed at the level of animosity toward me by some people. I’m amazed.

RC: But you’re going to have to overcome that, Mr. Trump, if you’re going to be the nominee and the president.

DT:  I think you may be right. I think you may be right.

RC:  I think this is such a pivot moment for you.

DT: Okay.

RC: You’re nearing the nomination. The presidency is possible. How do you – you say you get along with all these people. How do you . . .  .

DT: No, I say in my life I’ve gotten along with people.

RC: Understood.

DT: This is the first time where I’ve had this.

RC: How do you expand your reach right now? How are you going to do this at this moment in the country, where there’s all this anger that you’re talking about? You think there’s a lot of animus toward yourself. How do you expand your reach, your appeal, right now?

DT: Well, let me tell you the biggest problem that I have. And I talk about it a lot. I get a very unfair press. I’m somebody that’s a person that understands when I say — when I say, I say what I say. But I really do get a very, very unfair press. And a lot of times I’ll be making a speech, as an example, in front of a — in Orlando, where you have 20, 25,000 people show up in the sun at 3  in the afternoon in an open venue. And I will be saying things, and Bob, it won’t be reported what I say. It will be reported so differently.

RC:  So how do you — so regardless of your view of the press, how do you navigate the . . .  .

DT:   Well, the problem with my view of the . . .  .

RC:  The candidate has to get beyond all these different obstacles.

DT:  No, you’re right, but if the press would report what I say, I think I would go a long way to doing that. Now, there is a natural bias against me because I’m a businessperson, I’m not in the club. Okay? You understand that. I’m not in the club. I’m not a senator, I’m not a politician. I’m not somebody that’s been in Congress for 25 years, and I know everybody, I’m somebody — I’m very much an outsider. I am also somebody that’s self-funding my campaign, other than small contributions.

BW: But the press likes outsiders. I mean . . .  .

DT:  But the press doesn’t like me. For the most part.

BW: And would you blame the problem on the press, on the media coverage?

DT:  No, I, but I think . . . I do say this: My media coverage is not honest. It really isn’t. And I’m not saying that as a person with some kind of a complex. I’m just saying, I will be saying words that are written totally differently from what I’ve said. And I see it all — in all fairness, the editorial board of The Washington Post. I was killed on that. I left the room, I thought it was fine.

RC:  But what are some concrete steps you could take right now to project a bigger presence, a more unifying presence? Regardless of your view of the press, which is noted. How do you take steps now to really become a nominee?

DT:  Well, I think — it’s a great question, and it’s a question I’ve thought about a lot. I mean, I think the first thing I have to do is win. Winning solves a lot of problems. And I have two people left. We started off with 17 people. I have two people left. And one of the problems I have is that when I hit people, I hit them harder maybe than is necessary. And it’s almost impossible to reel them back. . . .  So [a famous athlete] calls me up about a month ago, right after I beat Rubio. And I beat him by 20 points. That was a big beating. Don’t forget, he was the face of the Republican Party. He was the future of the Republican Party. So [he] called me up. And he said, “Hey Donald, could you do us all a favor? We love you. Don’t kill everybody. Because you may need them on the way back.” You know, you may need them when you go to phase 3, or whatever phase you’re looking . . .  .