The Trump takeover at 10: The president is a year into his second term but captured the GOP a decade ago

A decade before he exercised force in Venezuela, sought the fall of Cuba, or fixed his eyes on Greenland, Donald Trump had his sights not on conquering nations but on toppling his rivals for the Republican nomination for president. Small stakes can have large ramifications.

To vanquish those seeking the 2016 GOP presidential nomination would not seem as lofty a goal as “running” a foreign country, as the president has said he intends to do with Venezuela, but in the fullness of time, we can see it as the first step toward a changed America: The boldness, or folly, of the second Trump administration’s current pursuit of hemispheric dominance would simply not have happened had the future president not first contended with Sen. Ted Cruz