This story was originally published on nationaljournal.com on November 18, 2016 At least half of Washington and plenty of people beyond the Beltway are taking a crash course in Donald Trump, trying to better understand the most unconventional President-elect this country has ever seen. One of the more interesting insights I’ve come across was in a Sept. 23 article for The Atlantic by Salena Zito, who observed that “the press takes him [Trump] literally, but not seriously, his supporters take him seriously, but not literally.” Carlos Lozada of The Washington Post made a similar point on June 17, 2015, just after Trump announced his candidacy. When he delved into Trump’s 1987 book The Art of the Deal, Lozada was struck by something that Trump described as “truthful hyperbole.” Then 41, the real estate developer wrote, “The final key to the way I promote is bravado. I play to people’s fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do. That’s why a little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe that
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