海角大神

Corey Lewandowski walked into the St. Regis Hotel聽Wednesday聽morning clutching a big can of Monster energy drink.

I thought, 鈥淥h boy, here we go鈥︹�� Mr. Lewandowski, President Trump鈥檚 first campaign manager, is an intense guy known for being combative. And he was about to appear at his first Monitor Breakfast. I flashed on the image of him聽聽a female reporter during the campaign.

But I had nothing to worry about. Lewandowski could not have been more engaging with the 36 reporters in the room. When the hour was up, he stayed and chatted informally for an extra 25 minutes, handing out business cards to all comers.

Lewandowski, who remains a Trump confidant despite his firing in June 2016, even gave us a funny anecdote about the president and his love of driving.

鈥淚 shouldn鈥檛 tell the story 鈥� I鈥檒l get in trouble,鈥� Lewandowski began. All ears perked up.

Trump, pre-presidency, was driving his Rolls-Royce from New York to his golf club in New Jersey, and talking to Lewandowski on the phone.

鈥淎nd guess what happened, right?鈥� Lewandowski recalled. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e in New York and you鈥檙e on your telephone, you鈥檙e driving your Rolls-Royce up to New Jersey, you get stopped. Right? And so I remember, he鈥檚 like: 鈥楥orey, I鈥檓 going to let you go. I just got pulled over.鈥� 鈥�

He was responding to a question about the wealthy Trump鈥檚 understanding of everyday life. Getting pulled over 鈥� we鈥檝e all been there. Lewandowski said that had just happened to him in New Hampshire. But not in a Rolls-Royce. As Mike Shear of The New York Times聽, the former aide told the story with no hint of irony.

Lewandowski also talked about Trump treating campaign staff to dinner at an Iowa steakhouse. 鈥淭he bill came and he took out his American Express card, which I thought was pretty cool,鈥� he said.

Then Lewandowski brought us back to Trump鈥檚 more-familiar dining habits.

鈥淲hen we would go to a McDonald鈥檚 or a fast-food place on the campaign trail, he would know what it would cost, because he would take out the cash and he would pay for it,鈥� he said. Then 鈥渉e鈥檇 get the change back.鈥�

Most of our session centered on far weightier topics. In their coverage, many reporters聽聽on Lewandowski鈥檚聽that he didn鈥檛 think the nondisclosure agreements signed by Trump aides, including himself, are enforceable. That sprang from a discussion of fired Trump aide Omarosa Manigault Newman鈥檚 explosive new book.

My own story聽focused聽on Trump and loyalty, and how Lewandowski and Ms. Newman embody the two types of 鈥渇ormers鈥� 鈥� those still close to Trump and those in exile. Lewandowski also made聽when he聽聽that the strongest challenger against Trump in 2020 would be former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

C-SPAN鈥檚 video of our Aug. 15 breakfast can be viewed聽.

I can see why Trump likes Lewandowski. He grew up in working-class Lowell, Mass., and he 鈥済ets鈥� Trump supporters. Lewandowski also knows how to channel Trump, and regularly appears on stage with the president at Make America Great Again rallies.

In fact, I last chatted with Lewandowski in April at Andrews Air Force Base. We were both skipping the White House Correspondents鈥� Dinner to fly on Air Force One for a rally in Michigan.

鈥淚鈥檇 rather be doing this,鈥澛�he told me. Then I said, 鈥淗ey, you should do a Monitor Breakfast.鈥� He said he鈥檇 love to.