In 2007, future United States president Donald Trump stepped into the wrestling ring for a showdown with Vince McMahon, then head of World Wrestling Entertainment and Trump’s close friend.

Trump played the villain perfectly.

For decades now, Trump has been shaped by a love affair with professional wrestling. It taught him how to control and manipulate a crowd, how to speak, and how to respond to criticism.

It also shaped his cabinet, with Trump appointing Linda McMahon, Vince’s ex-wife, to the position of secretary of education.

Today, contributor to The Saturday Paper Joseph Earp on how Donald Trump brought the art of pro-wrestling to politics.

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Guest: Journalist and author, Joseph Earp.

Photo: AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File

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