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The optimistic and even nonchalant attitude of the president dissipated this week in a series of sudden events as he participated in sneaky meetings at the United Nations in New York. Trump and a coterie of helpers were stunned by the rapid progression of events that upset their long-standing thinking about how an indictment scenario would unfold. Upon their return to the White House on Thursday, they tested and retested their strategies on the fly as they began to recognize the perilous path that was coming and which would probably be very different from anything that this president or one of his predecessors should have faced.
"This should never be allowed, what has happened to this president," Trump told reporters as he left Air Force One.
The swift move of Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, after months of stalemate, reflected her recognition of a new political reality: the contents of Trump's appeal with the Ukrainian president, in which he used his sacred perch at the White House to ask a foreign leader to investigate a political rival, could push Trump into a fiery and perilous territory – putting a strain on public opinion and the patience of the Congress in an election season filled with dramas. The speed of Pelosi's action surprised the White House.
The assistants and allies of the White House do not expect the president to calm down sooner. Many people fear that the impeachment process will tarnish the mood of the president and his ability to focus on legislation, on any other substantive issue or even on key elements of the 2020 campaign, at the same time. picture of how Mueller dominated his attention.
Interviews with more than a dozen White House aides, former administration officials, Republicans and close Trump allies have shown little consensus on what to do or what to do for Trump and his presidency.
The White House and Trumpworld should test countless new strategies in the weeks and months ahead, just as they have done in recent days.
The White House first tried to dispel the controversy by blocking Congress to get the whistleblowers' complaint. Next, the administration is geared towards transparency by issuing a summary of the appeal between Trump and the Ukrainian leader, then the whistleblower's complaint. The Republicans' talking points tried to present the approximate transcript of the call as a justification for the president, a "muddy" document, as one former senior white house official said.
Nevertheless, the president felt that his sudden adoption of transparency would exonerate him, even though he and two members of the government worried about the precedent of the publication of notes of appeals with foreign leaders.
But Thursday, the administration and its allies entered a new phase of attempting to discredit the whistleblower, whose complaint triggered the events that brought Trump to this point. Republicans, privately and vaguely, tried to portray the whistleblower as a partisan figure without presenting any evidence, while Trump would have called the whistleblower a spy.
However, some former assistants also said that Trump himself had made things worse with his changing story, a reflection of the president's lengthy approach to decision-making.
"You have a version of the story, then you say," Oh, agree, "and then you say," Oh, wait, there's another version. We forgot to tell you these other 10 things, "said one of the former senior officials of the White House. When calling with foreign leaders, the president "has a level of comfort where he says everything he has in mind."
After days of different messages offered between his meetings in the United States, the president spent part of the day on Thursday criticizing Twitter on both the whistleblower and the Democrats. "Liddle" Adam Schiff, who worked unsuccessfully for 3 years to harm the Republican Party and the President, just said that the whistleblower, even if he had only second-hand information, "is credible." How can this be with zero info and a known bias. Democrat scam! Trump tweeted Thursday afternoon, shortly after his return to the White House.
Campaign assistants and advisers argue that the indictment investigation only serves to motivate Trump's extremely loyal base and fundraising efforts. The campaign and the Republican National Committee raised approximately $ 8 million this week on the occasion of a dinner and breakfast in New York City, on which occasion the president was the special guest.
"Pelosi sacrificed Biden's presidential campaign to get Trump, and now Elizabeth Warren will be the candidate, which I think every Trump person with a brain would prefer," said one close to the campaign.
The greatest comfort of the Republican and White House advisers now comes from the clumsy mechanics of impeachment, which will give the Senate the last word on the fate of Trump's presidency. Few people think that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will let the debate in the Senate drag on. The Republicans' confidence in Trump's ability to survive this scandal seems to rest largely on McConnell and his grip on his caucus, not necessarily on the White House.
A White House official said that there was "a very positive mood" in the building. "Everyone is absolutely delighted."
White House Press Secretary and Director of Communications Stephanie Grisham said the president's and collaborators' views on the impeachment had not changed last week. "Nothing has changed – the president has done nothing wrong," said Grisham.
"What these guys do, the Democrats – are doing this country, it's a shame and it should not be allowed," Trump told reporters Thursday afternoon. "There should be a way to stop it – maybe legally, through the courts. But they will tie our country. We can not talk about gun regulations. We can not talk about anything because, frankly, they are so attached. They are so fucking that nothing is done except when I do it.
Public opinion quickly evolved over the week as the number of Americans favoring impeachment increased.
The strategy for the best way to handle the impeachment process and disclosure of information by the White House occurred Monday evening, when the Trump family gathered for a dinner at the Trump Tower.
Then, as soon as the White House assistants returned to Washington on Thursday afternoon, planning for the dismissal of the West Wing was launched seriously.
Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney hopes to set up a War Room composed of political, press and communication aides to facilitate the administration's fight. The administration intends to draw inspiration from the Clinton White House dismissal strategy, which relied on separate administrative staff and external substitutes for political struggles.
Grisham said that the White House does not need to make new hires to process the indictment investigation.
Already, the White House Council Office is used to investigative and Democratic oversight headquarters, so that lead counsel Pat Cipollone and his team are better prepared than the rest of the staff of the House. -Blanche, according to two former officials of the administration and a close. Counselor of the White House.
The administration will have to organize for a potentially long battle. The procedure for dismissing President Richard Nixon lasted about eight months and ended with his resignation. The proceedings in Clinton lasted for about five months and Clinton was acquitted by the Senate.
Several former administration assistants and White House advisers fear that the West Wing may not have sufficient staff to carry out this type of protracted political conflict, while it feeds on family members, aides subordinates, newcomers or staff members for so long that they feel exhausted.
Current and former assistants also wonder if this impeachment struggle will end up feeling different from that of Mueller's long investigation. "Some of the scandals of the White House are awful, and you're trapped in public relations. Everyone knows that it is only a matter of time and that the news cycle is changing. This is one of the cases where this is less clear, "said a former senior administration official.
Trump's critics said the president's habit of dismissing aides was likely to hurt him as Congress sought witnesses and the president tried to stay alert.
"The president's human resource practices will come back to haunt him here because he's apparently uncomfortable with truth tellers in his inner circle," said Timothy Naftali, a public service professor. at the NYU and co-author of "Impeachment: An American History."
"It is likely that the remaining acolytes will not have good advice," said Naftali. "He no longer has Don McGahn to tell him not to cross a trip wire."
But Trump's allies and former aides allege that the White House had anticipated the timing of Trump's dismissal since taking office.
"It's like crack with the Democrats. They can not stand the shot, "said Michael Caputo, a former Trump 2016 campaign manager." If Republicans are not ready to be indicted after two and a half years of preparation, we should not be in trouble. political, "adding that he felt that the White House was" perfectly prepared "and the Senate," foolproof ". "
"It's not a strategy to survive. It is a strategy to succeed through this. This is a strategy that takes advantage of the Democrats' obsession with the impeachment to defeat them in November 2020, "added Caputo. "The White House's strategy should be based on public opinion that tends to be in favor of impeachment."
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