Donald Trump has dispensed with his Republican rivals for the presidency, and is now—after a long break to issue repeated public belittlings of those same opponents for no apparent reason other than a near-lethal buildup of spite—is prepared to pivot to the general election. You know he's serious, too—why just yesterday he used a teleprompter for a public speech instead of merely backing up a tanker truck of famous Trump-branded word-slurry and pumping it from stage to audience.
So let us check in on our new and improved Republican candidate.
Trump also spoke at length about his controversial real-estate program, Trump University, despite a lengthy statement a day earlier in which he said he did "not intend to comment on this matter any further."
Total operational time for that particular campaign promise: Less than a day. He is also ready to take on presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Perhaps at his golf course?
"I don't even know where yet. I think we are gonna do it in Washington at the club," Trump said about delivering the speech at Trump National Golf Course in suburban Virginia. "Let's do it at the club," he said, turning to Hope Hicks, his top press aide. "I wouldn't mind doing it on the Potomac."
"I almost would love to do it right at the flag," Trump said.
"I love that," Hicks told him.
"But it would depend on the weather and stuff," Trump added.
Yessir, what we see before us is a new candidate. A disciplined if not-quite-weatherproof candidate. One with a fondness for Trump Golf Courses and Trump Universities and oh by the way his campaign's newest worry is that Trump will just one day up and announce a vice presidential pick one evening on Twitter, buried somewhere between his misspelled insults and retweets of neo-Nazi-avatared white supremacists.
The campaign has privately discussed making an announcement as soon as this month to deflect from the controversy surrounding Trump University, and some advisers have worried that Trump may decide on his own to post the announcement on Twitter one night with little warning.
Hey, it'll be a miracle if Trump spells his vice presidential nominee's name right. Wanting anything more is just asking for disappointment.
And ... scene. We will now allow Trump to return the confines of his Trump jet, where he can enjoy a Trump steak before returning to his Trump office in his Trump Tower and, another day of campaigning finally done, carefully unscrew his hair.