Trump Tells The True Story Of What Really Happened Behind Closed Doors On Election Night

Trump election night

For the first time, President-elect Donald Trump has revealed exactly what was going through his mind on election night – and it may surprise you.

Trump took the opportunity on his thank you tour stop in Wisconsin to regale the crowd with a 30 minute story about the days and hours leading up to the election being called.

For all the confidence Trump projected throughout the campaign, on election night he thought he was going to suffer an embarrassing loss because he believed what turned out to be phony exit polls.

Our next president spent most of the evening expecting to lose, according to Politico.

“So it began with phony exit polls. And I got a call from my daughter at about 5 o’clock, and she was called by people in their business,” Trump began, referring to his daughter, Ivanka. “And her husband, Jared, great guy, he was called. Then they called me and they said: ‘I’m sorry, Dad. It looks really bad. Looks really, really bad.’”

Trump recalled asking what the problem was and conceded that he “really assumed I lost” because, despite his constant rant against “phony” polls, he thought they had some credibility.

“So I sort of thought I lost, and I was OK with that,” Trump admitted. “I wouldn’t say great. In fact, I called my vice president and I said, ‘It’s not looking good.’ Right, Mike [Pence]? I said not looking good.” …

“I got the bad news from my daughter, and I said that’s too bad,” Trump said, fast-forwarding to Election Day. “So I go and see my wife. I say, ‘Baby, I’ll tell you what, we’re not gonna win tonight because the polls have come out and’ — you know, I always used to believe in those exit polls. I don’t believe in them anymore.”

“’It’s just looking bad. But, you know what, I’m OK with it because of the fact that I couldn’t have worked any harder,’” Trump continued. “’You can’t do any worse than that. I mean, I just couldn’t have done it. And if I lose, I lose. And you know what? If I lose, I lose and I’m gonna have a nice, easy life. We can all relax, together, right?’” …

“So now the polls just closed, and they start announcing numbers,” Trump said. “And I say, ‘Oh, this is gonna be embarrassing.’ I’m trying to figure out what am I gonna do. And I have this ballroom that’s not that big because I didn’t know if I was gonna win or lose.”

But what he did know is that if he was going to lose, “I didn’t want a big ballroom.” Trump reenacted the brisk concession he would have delivered, in which he would have thanked his supporters and said good night.

Then everything turned around and Trump starting winning state after state. He said, “Boy, that map was getting red as hell. That map was bleeding red. That map was so beautiful looking.”

In the end, Trump came out to the small ballroom to give his victory speech, while Hillary hid in her hotel room and threw a tantrum while her supporters sat in the huge building her campaign rented for her big victory party and cried. It was beautiful.

And the rest, as they say, is history. Thank you, Wisconsin!

Did you think Trump was going to lose on election night or did you believe in him the entire time? Tell us in the comments below!

Alexa is a freelance writer and communications consultant, with experience working on the Hill, at the RNC, and for... More about Alexa

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