Donald J. Trump sat in the middle of a U-shaped table, surrounded by his hard-right allies. It was a Friday night, 10 days before his inauguration, and Mr. Trump was hosting a couple of dozen members of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus in the white and gold ballroom at Mar-a-Lago and explaining how he views this moment of power.
The 45th (and soon-to-be 47th) president said the Democrats were damaged, demoralized and disorganized, according to two people in the room. And while he conceded that “sometimes a wounded animal is the most dangerous,” he signaled that he wanted to exploit their weakness. It was time to go big.
Whether it’s his idea for “one big, beautiful bill” to ram through his multitrillion-dollar legislative agenda, his hunger for a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war (and perhaps fulfill his first-term dream of a Nobel Peace Prize), his desire to acquire Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada for the United States, or his insistence to an adviser that he will keep signing executive orders on Inauguration Day “until my hand breaks” — Mr. Trump has indicated that he wants to begin his presidency with a demonstration of strength.
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