, Columnist
Donald Trump's Path-Independent Theory of Mind
How the U.S. president is like a Google ad test.
Playing to the audience.
Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
People have been discussing how Donald Trump interacts with other humans, guessing at the extent to which he is capable of anticipating or understanding how they think. Some believe he has no such “theory of mind.” I disagree: He has one, but it’s path-independent.
Remember when he thought people would like the fact that he’d fired FBI Director James Comey? Or the multiple times when he changed his story on why he did something? Those are the tell-tale signs.