That line isn’t just a memory. It’s the central doctrine of his second term. The courts are being reshaped. Civil servants are being purged. Loyalty tests are quietly becoming prerequisites. No rivals. No systems. No inconvenient checks and balances.
“Nobody knew the system like I do,” he says, again and again. It’s a claim of ownership, not understanding.
If enough people keep believing it, he won’t just control the prices.
He’ll control the building. The register. The receipts.
And eventually, the customers too.