Paul Manafort, Donald Trump's new campaign manager, told Republican leaders that the candidate was "projecting an image" and that he will now start "evolving" to make himself more acceptable to voters.

Associated Press:

The developments came as the GOP's messy fight for the White House spilled into a seaside resort in south Florida. While candidates in both parties fanned out across the country before important primary contests in the Northeast, Hollywood's Diplomat Resort & Spa was transformed into a palm-treed political battleground.

Trump's newly hired senior aide, Paul Manafort, made the case to Republican National Committee members that Trump has two personalities: one in private and one onstage.

"When he's out on the stage, when he's talking about the kinds of things he's talking about on the stump, he's projecting an image that's for that purpose," Manafort said in a private briefing.

"You'll start to see more depth of the person, the real person. You'll see a real different guy," he said.

The Associated Press obtained a recording of the closed-door exchange.

"He gets it," Manafort said of Trump's need to moderate his personality. "The part that he's been playing is evolving into the part that now you've been expecting, but he wasn't ready for, because he had first to complete the first phase. The negatives will come down. The image is going to change."

The message was welcomed by some party officials but criticized by others who suggested it raised doubts about his authenticity.

"He's trying to moderate. He's getting better," said Ben Carson, a Trump ally who was part of the GOP's front-runner's RNC outreach team.

While Trump's top advisers were promising Republican leaders that the GOP front-runner would moderate his message, the candidate was telling voters he wasn't ready to act presidential.

"I just don't know if I want to do it yet," Trump said during a raucous rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Thursday that was frequently interrupted by protesters.

"At some point, I'm going to be so presidential that you people will be so bored," he said, predicting that the size of his crowds would dwindle if he dialed back his rhetoric.

So all this time, Trump was putting on an act.  He isn't really a misogynistic, ignorant, bombastic, name-calling bully.  Soon, he's gonna start acting like a president, and all will be well.

Who's more delusional?  Trump or Manafort?  Perhaps with some low-information voters, this might work.  But the key word here is "acting" like a president.  Who is the real Donald Trump?  The clown or the prince?

Are Democrats going to forgo the pleasure of running ads with Trump's greatest hits – his insults to women and others?  Are they going to scrub the internet of Trump's monumental gaffes and incoherent rants?  Manafort is unconnected to reality if he thinks they can fool tens of millions of voters.