In recent years, I’ve often wondered if Trump has changed America or revealed it. I decided that it was both – that he changed the country by revealing it. After the 2024 election, I’m considering an addendum: Trump has changed us by revealing how normal, how truly American, he is.

Throughout Trump’s life, he has embodied every national fascination: money and greed in the 1980s, sex scandals in the 1990s, reality television in the 2000s and social media in the 2010s.