FIRE AND FURY INSIDE TRUMP WHITE HOUSE

Almost everybod in the Trump campaign thought of themselves as clear-eyed and realistic. The unspoken agreement among them: not only would Donald Trump not be president, he should probably not be. Conveniently, the former conviction meant nobody had to deal with the later issue.

As the campaign came to an end, Trump himself was sanguine. His longtime friend Roger Alies liked to say that if you wanted a career in television, first run for president. Now Trump, encouraged by Alies, was floating rumors about a Trump network. It was a great future.

He would come out of this campaign, Trumpassured Alies, with a far more powerful brand and untold opportunities. ''This is bigger than I ever dreamed of,'' he told Alies in a conversation a week before the election. ''I don't think about losing because it isn't losing. We've totally won.'' What's more, he was already laying down his public response to losing the election: It was stolen!

Donald Trump and his tiny band of campaign warriors were ready to lose with fire and fury. They were not ready to win.