Advisers say that President Trump's primary focus is assessing how his performance on the virus is measured in the news media, and the extent to which history will blame him
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump arrives in the Oval Office these days as late as noon, when he is usually in a sour mood after his morning marathon of television.
His own internal polling shows him sliding in some swing states, a major reason he declared a temporary halt to the issuance of green cards to those outside the United States — an order aimed to please his political base, people close to him said, and the kind of move he makes when things feel out of control. Friends who have spoken to him said he seemed unsettled and worried about losing the election.
Hogan Gidley, a White House spokesman, disputed that the president’s focus was on his news coverage, and said in a statement that “President Trump’s highest priority is the health and safety of the American people.” Trump rarely attends the task force meetings that precede the briefings, and he typically does not prepare before he steps in front of the cameras. He is often seeing the talking points for the first time although aides said he makes tweaks with a Sharpie just before he reads them live. He hastily plows through them, usually in a monotone, in order to get to the question-and-answer bullying session with reporters that he relishes.
“I don’t take responsibility at all,” Trump told White House correspondents in answer to one question. Hicks and McEntee, along with Dan Scavino, the president’s social media guru who was promoted this week to deputy chief of staff for communications, provide Trump with a link to the better old days. The three are the ones outside advisers get in touch with to find out if it’s a good time to reach the president or pass on a message.
Throughout the day, Trump calls governors, will have lunch with Cabinet secretaries and pores over newspapers, which he treats like official briefing books and reads primarily in paper clippings that aides bring to him. He calls aides about stories he sees, either to order them to get a world leader on the phone or to ask questions about something he has read.
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