The fact that former Trump Cabinet members are often his most vocal deep-state critics makes clear to me that in 2016 Trump simply did NOT understand how Washington DC works, nor did he grasp the depth of the swamp, the size of the deep-state and its collective power.
In Trump’s defense, no one did.
Now that the deep-state is out in the open, if Trump somehow manages to get elected and take office, it will be total warfare with the deep-state.
He knew. HE exposed them for all to see.