When the crowd laughs, perhaps uncomfortably, Mr. Trump pauses and says, "So true..." and then "I didn't expect that reaction, but that's okay," with a big smile. Mr. Trump, in his own "reality distortion zone," truly believes that his administration is on par with, say the Roosevelt or Lincoln presidencies. Not so fast: Is it really plausible that both Mr. Trump and his speechwriters would deliberately invite such derision? Or maybe, Mr. Trump, as a show-business professional, cannily planned the interaction. Mr. Trump doubles down on the claim by saying "so true" and the laughter seems to go up a notch.

Source: Forbes September 26, 2018 20:00 UTC