Trump bragged that his money bought off politicians. Just not this time.

Donald Trump used to have a simple theory for how politicians worked. “When you give,” he said last year, “they do whatever the hell you want them to do.”

Now, this year’s Trump seems to think last year’s Trump was wrong.

The Republican nominee is facing new scrutiny over a 2013 episode where his pay-to-play theory of politics seemed to work perfectly — and casting it, instead, as an innocent transaction with no strings attached.

Back then, Trump’s charitable foundation gave a $25,000 donation to a group backing the reelection of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. Then, Bondi’s office made a decision that benefited Trump: It declined to pursue an investigation into fraud claims against Trump University.