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The sole difference, they say, and its a big one, they grant, is the gravity of his rolehes the president not of the Trump Organization but of the United States of Americaand whats at stake: the health and sustenance of the countrys democracy.

The only thing that has changed is that hes doing it on the world stage, and it is enhanced by the powers and the platform that the presidency offers, biographer Tim OBrien told me. We dont need to believe now that theres anything Donald Trump wont do to preserve his own sense of himself. And for the history books alone, certain incidents are worth cataloging, and this is one of them. Hes willing to put democracy on the block.

But Trump never has altered his fundamental M.O. to match the scale of the moment. Hes always placed his own interests first, say those who know him, whether its a business deal or a matter of state.

This is all very consistent with the man I worked with 30 years ago, Bruce Nobles, the former president of the Trump Shuttle, told me. Hes very competitive and wants to always win, and if he thinks he cant win, then by definition there must be something wrong with the system, because otherwise, of course, he would win, Nobles said. He believes that, if for some reason he doesnt get what he wants, its not his faultits some other corrupt system thats keeping that from happening.

Back in 1990, when he owed his bank lenders billions of dollars, Trump blamed the overall economic downturn instead of acknowledging the litany of his own reckless decisions, saying, OK, well, you run the building, you run the debt, you run the airline, you run the Plaza, former Trump publicist Alan Marcus told me. And he made sure that his plight was every bit their plight, in a sense faulting the system, then distorting the systemthen (ab)using the system to survive. Hed say, Hey, if I fail, everybody fails, said Marcus.

When he was deeply indebted with bank loans he couldnt repay, added OBrien, the biographer, he basically said that he would just blow up the banks and leave them hanging and walk away from his debtswhen they needed him to play ball, so they could rationally dispose of the properties he used to control. And once he realized that they needed his involvement, he began playing with firelike all 7-year-olds do.

Steven Perskie, the chairman of New Jerseys Casino Control Commission from 1990 to 1994, on Thursday recalled the instance in December 1990 in which Trumps father spent more than $3 million on casino chips he didnt usean illegal loan that helped his beleaguered son make a debt payment that was due.

It doesnt have remotely the profile and political impact of the tweet this morning, which is a direct attack on our system of government, Perskie told me. But still, he said: The connection, or the tie, if you will, is simply his instinctive ability to reinvent reality.

Reinventing reality in that case meant an assault on the states regulatory infrastructureand in this case means sowing doubt about the trustworthiness of the nations voting system.

Every failure hes ever had, OBrien told me, he has blamed it on outside forces.

Only now, of course, Trump is one of the most powerful people on the planet, and one of the most consequential presidents ever, and what hes assailing is not the banks or Atlantic City.

Its democracy, OBrien said.

You have to have empathy to be bothered by collateral damage. And he is devoid of empathy. He never thinks about collateral damage. He just thinks about how cool the mushroom clouds will look.

At least on Thursday, though, the response on Capitol Hill and around the political world seemed to suggest that Election Daywhich the Constitution empowers Congress to set and therefore can be changed only by Congressis one pillar of democracy this norm-eviscerating president wont be able to gut. Hed been edging toward the idea of postponing or poisoning this falls election, biographer Gwenda Blair told me, but now hes going full speed ahead. Republicans, from Mitch McConnell on down, however, said in essence stop right there.

But the people whove known and watched Trumpnot for five years but parts of five decadessay one thing is for sure. He will not. As predictable as Tuesdays tweet might have been given his patterns of behavior in the past, it also could and should be seen, they said, as a preview of whats to come these next 96 days and for who knows how long after that.

Hes going to keep the rhetoric up, former Trump casino executive Jack ODonnell told me. Hes going to do it for the next three months, and hes going to talk about this rigged election and this fraudulent election. Because he cant lose in his mind. And this is how hes going to cover in case he does.

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Hes Willing to Put Democracy on the Block - POLITICO