The interview with Donald J. Trump is on. Then, abruptly, it’s off. What’s that? Oh, it’s back on again.

So here we are, in a boardroom at The New York Times, over a lunch of salmon and steak, sitting around a giant wooden table with the president elect, posing questions to a man who has mocked, maligned and threatened us for the past two years.

What actually happened in that room, when Mr. Trump sat down with the editors, reporters and columnists for The Times on Tuesday? How did it feel? What did we learn about him? And why, after all the taunts and outbursts, was Mr. Trump so civil toward us — nice, even?