We [in the media] assume politicians know their words are being carefully studied and that they issue those words with care so they aren’t inadvertently misunderstood. We want to understand what our leaders are up to. We want to categorize their actions. We want to use that understanding to deepen our sense of where we are and where we’re going.

But we’re missing one profound thing about Trump, and we keep missing it, and we will continue to miss it: Trump is not a politician. He doesn’t think of himself as a politician, and he doesn’t act like a politician, and we’re all desperately trying to fit him into our understanding of what he’s supposed to be. …

He improvised his way to the presidency, he’s improvising his way through the transition and it’s likely he’ll continue to improvise as president.