Trump: Ryan "wants me to be me"

What were Speaker Ryan’s demands?

“We talked about the success I’ve had,” Trump replied. “Paul said to me that he has never seen anything like it because I’m a nonpolitician and I beat very successful politicians. He was really fascinated by how I won. I said, it’s just like I have good ideas and I’ve bonded with the people and my people are very loyal. They will stay through thick and thin, whereas the people that support Marco and Cruz wouldn’t. If Jeb sneezed, they’d leave.”
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So Ryan didn’t ask Trump to stop making remarks that alienate women? “No,” Trump said, “he wants me to be me.”

When I asked if he had been chided by any Republicans for his Twitter feud with Elizabeth Warren, he replied, “You mean Pocahontas?” So much for reining it in.

I noted that John Cornyn said he gave Trump some tips on how to discuss illegal immigration more sensitively to woo Hispanic voters. “I love getting advice,” Trump deadpanned. “It’s just what I need, just what I need is more advice. The 17 people I beat are still giving me advice.”

Trump also briefly saw Poppy Bush’s guru, James Baker. “I was more interested in asking him about Ronald and Nancy Reagan and the whole Reagan era than I was in terms of getting advice currently,” Trump said.

The candidate who’s under fire for his own tone told me he was offended by Stephanopoulos’s tone. Trump said he’s not afraid that people will find out he’s not as rich as he says. “Tax returns don’t show that,” he said. “They would show, do I use Cayman Islands stuff? And the answer is no, I can tell you right now. Am I ensconced in some of the crazy countries where you keep money and avoid taxes? The answer is no, I don’t do that.”

Trump insisted to me that the Post recording was not his voice. “ Do you know how many people I have imitating my voice now? It’s like everybody.”

While many Republicans are expressing how scared they are to be handcuffed to someone so erratic, Trump is almost feral in savoring his victory. “They say it was the roughest primary in memory, in history,” he said proudly. Recalling trouncing Jeb Bush, he noted, “Low energy, that term just hit. That thing, that was a one-day kill. Words are beautiful.”

No one marvels more at his success than Trump. “Don’t analyze it,” he said. “Just do it. The other players would come up to Babe Ruth and say, ‘Babe, how do you hit the long ball?’ And he said, ‘I don’t know, man. I just hit it.’ There’s a little bit of truth in that.”