I still don’t believe Trump expected to win the election, I think he genuinely expected to do no better than coming close but falling short enough that he could claim that the whole thing was “stolen.” It was about “the brand,” about getting the Trump name on the TV so much that whatever he went into after the election would start with a huge ready-made following. And so he acted out of that belief, continuing to act as he’d done for years in protecting “the brand” by having Cohen pay off women and sending him the bill in a way that might not get much notice from the IRS or state inspectors.

Hell, I’d even go so far as to suggest that Russia figured they won either way: Either they’d get a ready-made asset in the White House whom they could influence simply by having kompromat on or they’d force such a close win for Hillary that she’d start her presidency severely weakened and dealing with an opposition that claimed the results “invalid” for the purposes of stymieing her every move.