Opinion | Flattery as Trump Management Strategy

One of the things that has been clear with Donald Trump’s win this time is how different it is: no shock wave jolting society.This is, according to polling, one of the presidential election outcomes most widely accepted as legitimate of the past 25 years.

The reaction from some of those who didn’t vote for him seems more restrained, with a widespread interest in preservation of self amid potential chaos — a retreat from the news to focus on family, friends and peace of mind.On the public level, we’re back in business in some way, back to an earlier pre-Trump era of normal relations, strategic silence, public deference and an antiseptic corporate friendliness — a bit of flattery, at times, for Mr.Trump.

That kind of public sheen might also originate from the bone-deep acceptance of the hard and fast reality that this is happening again.There has already been a surreal set of visuals from the past few weeks, both normal (congratulations and good tidings for the incoming president) and surreal at the same time (President Biden and Mr.Trump grinning in front of the White House).Tim Cook, the Apple C.E.O., wrote on X on Nov.

6: “Congratulations President Trump on your victory! We look forward to engaging with you and your administration to help make sure the United States continues to lead with and be fueled by ingenuity, innovation, and creativity.” Phil Murphy, the Democratic New Jersey governor, has already volunteered that he’ll attend the inauguration.Recently, the hosts of “Morning Joe” met with the president-elect.

“We didn’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of issues and we told him so,” Joe Scarborough said.“What we did agree on,” Mika Brzezinski said, “was to restart communications.”These things are, again, both normal and surreal within this realist reset.

Mr.Cook was one of the people during the first Trump administration who visited the White House to meet with Mr.

Trump.At the same time, it’s somewhat jarring to see “Cong...