Scott Adams (who studies persuasion) has said from the beginning that he thinks Trump has a persuasion advisor. That is what drew him in to analyse Trump's campaign in the first place, during the primary. He is not a Trump supporter, but has called his persuasion techniques masterful.
Trump has been preparing for a presidential run for many years, so it is not a leap to think he has studied these techniques from many different sources.
This guy was part of Obama’s “Behavioral Scientist Dream Team” in 2012, along with Dr. Craig Fox, Susan T. Fiske of Princeton University, Samuel L. Popkin of the University of California-San Diego, Richard H. Thaler, a professor of behavioral science and economics at the University of Chicago’s business school, and Michael Morris, a psychologist at Columbia.
Wow....
Now we know where all the memes have come from, and how so many otherwise intelligent people could be so easily manipulated, especially with the cooperation of a biased and willing media!!