I don't believe Trump did not expect to win. Agree? Other takes?

[triron]

Why would he have covered up his affairs otherwise just before the election?
Maybe he hoped to win but did not expect to?

[dlk]

1. Trump Lies About Everything Else--Why Wouldn't He Lie About This?

[Qutzupalotl]

2. He planned to start a TV network, Trump TV, after the election.

I don’t think he expected to win, but probably didn’t want to lose to someone he called crooked. Ego took over.

[Desert grandma]

3. Ego still drives him.

If he had any intelligence at all, he would have resigned before he and his family as well as his "company" bite the dust. They are not used to their lives and activities being under the microscope. He is so arrogant, that he really does believe he is above the law.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

4. I don't either. Not for one instant. His ego wouldn't let him lose.

Which is why he made sure Russia won the election for him.

[dogman]

5. I think he expected the results to be the opposite.

I think he thought he would win the popular vote and lose in the electoral college. He was prepared to call it a sham and a robbery and bemoan c*****d Hillary and the Democrats for the last two years. He sure wasn't prepared to take the reins of government.

[lilactime]

6. ITA with you.

[Buckeyeblue]

7. He wanted it to be close

So he could delegitimize the election. He could create his own tv network where on a nightly basis he could claim that crooked Hillary stole the election.

If you think about it, it was in Fox News' best interest for him to win. Trump TV would have taken viewers from them. The irony would be if he just wanted it to be close and FN wanted him to win.

[renate]

11. OMG! what a great point!

At the beginning of the primary season, Fox was NOT on his side. Presumably they wanted him to look foolish so he and his new TV station would be less of a threat.

Then once he became hugely popular with the mouthbreathers that are their bread and butter, it was absolutely in their best interest for him to win and get out of the way.

I would love to find out whether there were any discussions along these lines in the Fox boardroom, but of course we'll never get to know.

[kentuck]

8. I don't believe he didn't think he couldn't steal it...

Because...

[mercuryblues]

9. Look at it this way

My husband always buys me what I ask for, for my birthday and Xmas. But until I unwrap the gift I am not sure if he did and always surprised.

trump knew what strings were being pulled for his win. He knew the Russians hacked the emails and voter rolls. He knew about them getting polling data, and their troll farms. He knew about voter disenfranchisement He knew the fix was in. But until it was announced that he won, he did not know that they would be successful.

[MiniMe]

10. He was setting up a challenge to the election way before the election happened

[wiggs]

12. Agree. Once the polls got relatively close, he saw the possibilities, saw the conspiracies then

knew that not only he COULD win but HAD to win in order to be able to deflect charges of conspiracy, money laundering, etc.

I still think Cohen is hiding the worst about Trump...and saying that Trump never expected to win undermines the extent to which people may believe Trump conspired with one or more foreign countries to influence and/or hack the last two elections.