I have wondered if his combativeness was as much strategy as anything.
He reacted fast and hard to negative characterizations...got lots of free publicity and established himself as the alpha big dog in the group. Most learned their lesson and are now careful about what they say. The interview with Pelley on CBS was a good political credential building exercise - whether Pelley intended that or not.
Result is now that he has earned the respect he can afford to tone it down. We’ve never seen anything like this before as far as I know..and never will again.
He commands respect in interviews. My impression is the media enjoys interviewing someone who is so forthright and free. They probably chafe at the policies but they must be sick to death of the phony Obamaci.
You raise an interesting idea. It’s possible and given Trump’s unpredictable personality, it makes sense. The problem with his talking the way he has sometimes is that it turns a lot of people off, people who like his ideas and plans so far. I’m not sure how you get them to see him favorably.