Last week felt genuinely surreal, an unhinged fever dream of the East Wing being torn down, a seemingly friction-free process that couldn’t—or wouldn’t—be stopped by anyone. And in its stead, the world’s tackiest ballroom will arise.

But, like, for real: How did this happen? No, that’s not meant as an existential question about the political direction of the country, but literally, as in what were the mechanics of making this happen?

Turns out that, for President Donald Trump, it was pretty easy. All it took was his patented combination of avarice and cronyism. Well, that and the utter collapse of the morality of people around him.

Step one: Get in touch with Meredith O’Rourke. One of Trump’s top fundraisers, O’Rourke—who has no official role in the government—was in charge of hoovering

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