MICHAEL WOLFF: Trump is suddenly unhinged, uninhibited and more freakish than ever before - but is he really having a breakdown?

This is my tenth twelvemonth of penning astir Donald Trump and his unorthodox, norm-defying behavior.

And, arsenic we attack nan apogee of this 2024 predetermination cycle, his actions, words and base person only gotten much extreme, trending into nan bizarre, if not freakish.

Never earlier has a nationalist figure, isolated from possibly 1 having a visible breakdown, displayed specified a mercurial, devil-may-care, uninhibited persona.

From casting disconnected a recent event successful Pennsylvania mid-sentence and swaying – for forty afloat minutes – to his ain playlist, to his daily, 90-minute and often incoherent speeches, aliases his unrestrained and expletive-ridden attacks connected his various enemies, it's a full caller style of WTF politics.

And it's not conscionable successful public; location are reports of backstage bad behaviour too, of furies unleashed connected those closest to him, moreover connected awesome Republican donors.

Even those closest to him are now struggling to explicate what surely appears to beryllium a willful determination to spit successful nan look of restraint.

A Mar-a-Lago golfing buddy, who sees nan erstwhile president often, precocious suggested to maine that this could beryllium owed to nan accent of nan difficult last weeks of nan campaign.

Several Trump aides, meanwhile, person speculated astir nan lasting effect of 2 assassination attempts. And then, of course, location is nan property factor: Trump is 78-years-old. But, putting a bully look connected it, immoderate successful his orbit statement that his diminution – if that is what we're witnessing – is astatine slightest colorful, arsenic opposed to Joe Biden's sad fadeout.

Another mentation is that Trump understands he mightiness suffer – which successful specified a adjacent title is astatine slightest a 50/50 anticipation – and recognizes nan dire consequences that could follow: ignominy, jail, bankruptcy.

Some insiders way nan escalation successful his uncontrolled behaviour backmost to Biden's exit from nan title and Kamala Harris's swift elevation successful July.

With Biden, Trump was assured of victory. But that was snatched from him. And his rage, his emotion of being nan unfortunate of a awesome Democratic plot, has possibly pushed him complete nan edge. In his mind, it's already different stolen election.

What's more, this is each mixed pinch nan truth he would beryllium losing to a woman — nan eventual insult.

But past there's nan anticipation that, what mightiness look arsenic a self-destructive spiral, whitethorn really beryllium an denotation of Trump's ain consciousness of indomitability – of full assurance successful victory. And if so, past this off-the-rails behaviour is each nan much consequential, because it foreshadows nan furies and impunity that mightiness qualify a 2nd Trump White House.

A White House successful which he will consciousness free capable and assured capable to beryllium arsenic Trump arsenic he wants to be.

Despite cosmopolitan revulsion aft January 6, Republican donors and Party activity rallying down Ron DeSantis successful nan primaries, 4 indictments and a criminal conviction, Trump has persevered and prevailed. Now, he's connected a triumph lap.

Certainly, he has many times said that his unbridled sensibility is nan cardinal to his success. His overseas argumentation modus operandi – nan Trump doctrine, efficaciously – is that nan much unpredictable and volatile he appears, nan much different nations fearfulness him.

And nan truth is that Trump being Trump, without restraint, often works.

You only request look astatine his historical triumph complete what whitethorn beryllium nan astir concerted ineligible onslaught ever leveled astatine an American politician. Any reasonable ineligible advisor would person encouraged him to activity accommodations and colony pinch his prosecutors. Instead, he has, pinch Trumpian bluster and contempt, unleashed a cascade of spurious efforts to delay, distract and look down nan strategy which tried truthful difficult to derail him.

And arsenic such, he's fought his measurement to thing of a draw. If he succeeds connected November 5, that tie will go a full triumph against his detractors.

Outlandish behaviour is customarily punished. Society, and often nan law, rises against it. For Trump, outlandishness yields success. He is an unruly man-child who appears to person reversed nan astir basal norm of parenting: his bad behaviour is truthful often rewarded.

Which prompts nan question: really does he get distant pinch it?

Part of nan reply is that he provides specified a clear opposition to different politicians, among them Kamala Harris, whose behaviour is controlled, strategic, but unrevealing and possibly boring. Nowadays, it progressively seems that due behaviour is much apt to beryllium punished.

But different constituent is that Trump has created himself a bubble world. He was a bankrupt businessman, a joke successful his hometown of New York City, but connected 'The Apprentice' he framed himself arsenic nan unmatched master.

Now he is style shifting erstwhile again, concealing his abnormalities — his regular unusual behavior, his criminal indictments, nan representation of January 6 — pinch nan accordant illusion that he is still nan president, much presidential, successful fact, than nan existent president.

If he wins, a leader of his triumph will beryllium his apical aide, Justin Caporale – a cardinal Trump architect, who has directed each detail, look and consciousness of this campaign. From nan wood-paneled backstage jet, to nan podiums and mock-presidential seals, to nan flood lighting and out-sized sets astatine his rallies, each of it sends a connection that present is simply a existent president. Here is nan dominant, world-conquering, maestro of clip and place.

From nan opening of nan Trump era, nan mobility has ever been whether he is crazy for illustration a fox, artfully gaming nan system, aliases conscionable truthful overmuch successful different reality — that is to say, simply crazy — that he has inverted nan game.

If he wins again, we will beryllium ever further from knowing nan truth.

If he loses, possibly we return to much a recognizable modular of normalcy — though it is acold from clear that is really what group want.