He found that he could incite his followers and get them to do what he wanted, including commit violent acts. And he found that he enjoyed doing that.
He even took that so far as to incite an insurrection -- sending his followers to violently attack Congress in an attempt to overthrow our democratic system and hang on to power. Then watched it on TV, enjoying the violence he had created and refusing to stop it when it became obvious that lives were in danger -- including that of his own vice-president, Mike Pence.
He was rightly impeached for doing that, but 43 Republican senators showed their cowardice and refused to convict him. They knew he was guilty, but invented a technicality to justify their political cowardice.
The following is part of a very good article by Maureen Dowd in The New York Times:
The first time I realized that Donald Trump took pleasure in violence was back in March 2016. In an interview, I asked him about the brutish rhetoric and violence at his rallies and the way he goaded supporters to hate on journalists and rough up protesters. Even then Mitch McConnell was urging Trump to ratchet down the ferocity. . . .
He brushed off the questions and blithely assessed the savage mood at his rallies: “Frankly, it adds a little excitement.”. . .
He had always been cruel and selfish, blowing things up and reveling in the chaos, gloating in the wreckage. But it was only during his campaign that he realized he had a nasty mob at his disposal. He had moved into a world that allowed him to exercise his malice in an extraordinary way, and he loved it.
He became his own Lee Atwater, doing the dirty stuff right out in the open. He embraced the worst part of his party, the most racist, violent cohort.
The faux-macho, Gotti-esque air of menace he cultivated as a real estate dealer, the Clint Eastwood squint, just seemed like performance art; mostly he was around New York, acting genial at parties and courting the press. . . .
But once Trump got into politics, he realized, with growing intoxication, that the more incendiary he was, the more his fans would cheer. He found that he could really play with the emotions of the crowd, and that turned him on. Now he had the chance to command a mob, so his words could be linked to their actions.
Trump never cared about law and order or the cops. He was thrilled that he could unleash his mob on the Capitol and its guardians, with rioters smearing blood and feces and yelling Trump’s words and going after his targets — Nancy Pelosi and Mike Pence. . . .
Certainly, opportunism has always run rampant in Congress. But most Republicans, who continue to tremble before Trump even though he devoured and destroyed their party, turning its traditional values upside down, are plumbing new cowardly depths. They are mini-Trumps, making decisions solely on self-interest. . . .
These dreadful Republicans are all Falstaffs, trampling the concept of honor, blowing it off as a mere airy-fairy word, not worth sacrificing anything for, not worth defending your country for. “Honor is a mere scutcheon,” Falstaff scoffed.
McConnell and the other craven Republicans realize now that they should not have played along with Trump as long as they did, while he undermined the election. But they still refuse to hold him accountable because he controls their voters. . . .
A few days ago, prosecutors in Georgia opened an investigationinto Trump’s efforts to overturn the election there. Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance could drag Trump into court on tax and fraud charges. Karl Racine, the attorney general for D.C., has said that Trump could be charged for his role in inciting the riot.
Maybe a man who gloated as his crowds screamed “Lock her up!” will find that jurors reach a similar conclusion about him.