That’s the key point. Trump’s comments bespeak a refusal to face the human costs of violence and war that could have frightening consequences for American foreign policy.

Trump loves discussing violence. He does it often, and almost always in the same way. When committed by terrorists, criminals, or protesters, violence is horrific, and its perpetrators are subhuman. (“Animals,” is a favorite Trump word.) But when committed by Trump’s side, violence is righteous and heroic, evidence of a functioning moral order. Crucially, it is also cost-free. Trump barely ever admits that violence, when deployed by his side, causes suffering that need disturb his sleep.

This narrative is part of Trump’s own, self-styled, personal history. He’s said that, “In the second grade I actually gave a teacher a black eye. I punched my music teacher because I didn’t think he knew anything about music and I almost got expelled.” The story is likely invented. But what’s striking is the pride with which he recounts it. Far from expressing something troubling about his character, the incident shows that “I was a very assertive, aggressive kid.” The young Trump exhibited the very qualities he prides himself on today.

As an adult, Trump assiduously avoided real violence. He gained five deferments to avoid service in Vietnam. But he lustily participated in fake, consequence-free violence. His frequent appearances at World Wrestling Entertainment events got him inducted him into the WWE Hall of Fame. At WrestleMania 23 in 2007, he pretended to repeatedly punch WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and then, along with two wrestlers, brutally shaved his head while McMahon pretended to plead for mercy and scream in agony. It was simulated torture, and Trump appeared to thoroughly enjoy it.

Trump still finds the WWE paradigm—candy-corn violence—attractive. In July, he tweeted a video of himself at WrestleMania repeatedly punching a victim whose face was covered by the CNN logo. In August he retweeted a drawing of a train labelled Trump running over a person labelled CNN (before later deleting it).

At his campaign rallies, Trump tried to make this cartoon violence real. He often expressed a yearning to beat up protesters and congratulated his supporters when they did so on his behalf. Far from expressing concern that such violence might cause pain or even death, he described such concern as symptomatic of the cultural weakness he was running for president to overcome. “I’d like to punch him in the face,” Trump exclaimed as a protester was being escorted out of a rally in Las Vegas. “In the old days,” he added, such people were “carried out on stretchers” but unfortunately, “we’re not allowed to push back anymore.” Near Ferguson, Missouri, while bemoaning the time it was taking to eject a demonstrator, Trump declared that “part of the problem and part of the reason it takes so long is nobody wants to hurt each other anymore.” As guards removed protesters in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Trump said “They used to treat them very, very rough, and when they protested once, they would not do it again so easily.” As a society, he added, “we’ve become weak.” Since becoming president, Trump has tried to rectify this by urging police to “please don’t be too nice” with suspects. In August he said “tough police tactics” would stop the violence in Chicago “in a week.”