one of the things that is going to hurt trump the most is this perception that nothing matters except winning, and his inability to understand the consequences of deploying negative tactics to do so.

he is not going to immediately understand why muslim leaders are going to react cooly to him. he's not going to understand why his rhetoric about mexicans is going to harm american interests in latin america.

he did it to win. he won. doesn't that justify everything he said? in his mind, it does.

principles matter. i don't want to argue over whether the ends justify the means. that's not my point. my point is that there's a day after, and the means have consequences on that day, and all following ones.

by 70 years old, most people have learned this lesson. if he hasn't yet, there is no reason to think he ever will. and, it will destroy him in the end, as his enemies grow in number.