On the morning of June 16, 2015, I went to Penn Station in New York City. When I arrived for my train to Washington, I found large crowds of people heading in the opposite direction. They wore T-shirts and carried posters emblazoned with the name of Donald Trump, who was scheduled to announce his presidential candidacy at Trump Tower that afternoon. Their numbers impressed me. A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll had Trump in single digits. Clearly, though, he knew how to draw a crowd.
By the time I arrived at my offices in Arlington, Virginia, Trump had descended the golden escalator. Every major network was broadcasting his speech. He held the world’s attention. From that point on, he was the single biggest story in politics. He set the agenda. He defined the debate. A decade later, he still does.
To mark the 10th anniversary of Trump’s ride down the golden escalator, I rewatched his 47-minute address. What struck me was how little he’s changed. Older, obviously. Thinner. He speaks more softly now. He isn’t a newcomer. He has, for example, been around longer than any other G7 leader at this week’s summit in Canada.