A lot of stuff had to happen before Donald Trump could stand in front of Iowa voters on a chilly yet somehow more innocent day back in January 2016 and make his famous declaration that “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and wouldn’t lose any voters, OK ...” — shocking his critics yet also winning a few knowing nods.

Maybe The Donald was thinking about all those years in New York real estate where he was always just one step ahead of the law, whether it was that FBI obstruction of justice probe back in ’81 or all the years of alleged money laundering, or the times when his pal at the National Enquirer covered for him, or how he got a network TV gig to make him look like the world’s smartest businessman after literally losing more money than any individual in the United States, or how he could simply buy his way out of scams like Trump U. or the latest mistress by writing a check.

Or maybe Trump was thinking bigger that day nearly four years ago — about how his good friend Jeffrey Epstein had been caught with those young girls and yet still the doors of Manhattan high society flung open for him, or all his banker friends down on Wall Street who crashed the world economy and then skated away without a scratch. Or perhaps — since he was running for president — he realized that you could start a war on bogus pretenses that killed tens of thousands of people, bring back torture, and launch an American gulag at Gitmo and they’ll still drape medals around your neck