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Mar-a-Lago Murmurs: Irrational Confidence, R.N.C. Bashing & More Corey Drama

Further news and notes from inside Trump’s brain: his growing conviction in victory, his backup plan to contest the results, and who among his allies—LaCivita? Michael Whatley?—will get blamed if it all falls apart.

donald trump rnc
There is a lot of musing about what will become of the R.N.C. as Trump turns it into his legal watchdog. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
Tara Palmeri
October 18, 2024

Despite the endless and voluminous and ubiquitous polling suggesting that we are careening toward a historically tight election, Donald Trump can only see an outcome in which he wins. Inside Mar-a-Lago, I’ve heard that Trump is uncharacteristically buoyant, almost cavalier, convinced that victory is his. Yes, some in Trump’s orbit are concerned about displaced voters in North Carolina, but the only thing that the former president believes could cause him to fail, I’ve been told, is if the Republican National Committee election integrity unit—which includes at least one 2020 election denier—fails him.