Everything I’ve seen in the way Trump approaches criminal acts is that he acts in the manner of a mafia don: His underlings are expected to protect him, whether that is by paying off investigators/prosecutors, intimidating witnesses into silence, threats of expensive litigation to break contracts and business agreements, and even having them work with other criminal elements in order to spread his power and influence.

He is the kinda guy who is used to others making his problems “go away.” He figured that winning the election meant he could just add the DOJ to his list of “fixers.” Which is why he couldn’t believe Comey would not pledge loyalty to him, why Jefferson Beauregard would recuse himself rather than snuffing out any talk about Russia, and why Rosenstein would appoint Mueller when presented with the opportunity to put an end to any new investigations.