President Trump likes gold fixtures, marble tiles and the trappings of grandeur. When he talks about himself in interviews and in his books, he talks in superlatives. He has billed himself as masterful negotiator. He has described himself as having the world’s best memory. He almost never apologizes, and he rarely admits to having flaws.

Over the years, his advisers and aides have worked to maintain the image Mr. Trump has spent a lifetime cultivating, a particular challenge during a presidential race, when candidates’ flaws are exposed. But few candidates try to keep such an iron grip on their image as Mr. Trump did in 2016, driving his aides to do battle with reporters over seemingly minor details.

So it is striking that “Let Trump Be Trump,” a new book by two former campaign aides, paints a portrait of Mr. Trump that shows him as he is — at least partly — as opposed to how he would like to be seen.

The book is by Corey Lewandowski, Mr. Trump’s first campaign manager, and David Bossie, the head of the group Citizens United and the deputy campaign manager during the final months of the 2016 presidential race. It is a combination of over-the-top praise for their candidate, nostalgic remembrances of glory days and rewarding aides they liked and score-settling with their enemies, particularly Paul Manafort, whose arrival in the campaign started the countdown clock on Mr. Lewandowski’s dismissal.