White House Has New Trump Strategy

GOP polling shows that his path to 2020 victory depends on one thing
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 26, 2020 4:05 PM CDT
White House Aides Trumpet New Strategy
In this April 20, 2020, file photo President Trump stands as Vice President Mike Pence speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

After two months of frantic response to the coronavirus, the White House is planning to shift President Trump’s public focus to the burgeoning efforts aimed at easing the economic devastation caused by the pandemic, the AP reports. Days after he publicly mused that scientists should explore the injection of toxic disinfectants as a potential virus cure, Trump has now rejected the utility of his daily task force briefings, where he has time and again clashed with scientific experts. Trump's aides are aiming to move the president onto more familiar—and safer, they hope—ground: talking up the economy, in tighter controlled settings. It's a political imperative as allies have seen an erosion in support for the president.

His ability to blanket news headlines with freewheeling performances, has seemingly turned from a strength to a daily liability. At the same time, new GOP polling shows Trump's path to a second term depends on the public's perception of how quickly the economy rebounds from state-by-state lockdowns. Aides said the president would hold more frequent roundtables with CEOs, business owners, and beneficiaries of the trillions of dollars in federal aid already approved by Congress, and begin to outline what he hopes to see in a future recovery package. Trump last left the White House grounds a month ago, and plans are being drawn up for a limited schedule of travel within the next few weeks, aide said. It would be a symbolic show that the nation is beginning to reopen.

(More President Trump stories.)

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