Faced with falling popularity, Trump is preparing the state of the Union

The challenges multiply at a time when Trump is still so empty and isolated. At the White House, collaborators describe a chaotic and raging atmosphere reminiscent of the first weeks of Trump's presidency.

Power has been consolidated around presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, a senior adviser who is de facto Chief of Staff at the White House. Some counterweights such as the ousted chief of staff, John Kelly, have disappeared, according to some advisers. The West Wing has the feeling of the 26th floor of Trump Tower, where an uncontrolled Trump absolutely controlled his family's affairs and was free to follow his impulses.

Mick Mulvaney, who replaced Kelly on an acting basis, said he was trying to manage the staff but not the president, according to officials in the administration. He told his friends that he came and went in the oval office and that he met alone Trump twice a day – once in the morning and once in the evening, for about 15 minutes each. At a recent dinner, if asked about his role as guardian, Mulvaney laughed and said, "I'm not trying to stop him from doing things," officials said.

"I do not think he's even trying to hide the fact that he's at the helm of a family business and not at the helm of one of the most powerful countries in the world." "said Omarosa Manigault Newman, on which he played. The NBC reality show NBC of Trump, L & # 39; s apprentice, and worked for him at the White House before having a public debate with the president after his dismissal.

Trump's popularity is at an all-time low. Polls show that many more Americans blame it for its closure as Democrats and that a growing majority disapproves of its results, despite Trump's management of a robust economy and its stated intentions to withdraw the American troops of unpopular foreign wars.

This raises the question of whether Trump on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning, Australian time) could use his annual speech in front of a joint session of Congress – and in front of an American television audience in prime time – to make a course correction and seek to broaden his appeal. meddling in conflict with the opposition party, mainly about illegal immigration and border security.

Trump said last week that his state of the Union would be about "unification", but that this theme contradicts the president's combative instincts and his indifference – even his hostility – towards the Congress negotiations.

"He can talk about national unity, but if he points to people in the gallery and says that, in fact, immigrants of color come to kill you, that would undermine any excuse." said Michael Waldman, editor of the White House at the White House. helped draft the state of President Bill Clinton's Union following the two closures made by the government between 1995 and 1996.

"At other times, presidents facing a decline in the number of polls have chosen to be very conciliatory or very optimistic," Waldman said. "It would surprise everyone here, I do not know if this is in Trump's repertoire, when he does, he will feel like he is reading under the teleprompter's constraint – and everyone knows when he will come back to the White House, he will start tweeting again. "

Although the fight for a border wall is at the center of Trump's concerns over the last two months, the president's advisers said his speech would not be a jeremiad focused on immigration, but rather set a guiding agenda for the coming year. For example, Trump plans to talk about infrastructure development and prescription drug pricing, two issues that have a broad bipartisan appeal, according to a senior White House official.

He is also expected to talk about foreign affairs and highlight recent moves by his administration in Venezuela to force President Nicolas Maduro to step down, as well as Trump's ongoing trade talks with China and its summit scheduled later this month. with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

At the same time, conservative leaders urge Trump to speak out of brutal language about abortion after Virginia Governor Ralph Northam sparked a national outcry last week for comments interpreted as defenses of infanticide. The senior official said Trump would likely address the issue, which his aides described as an effective way to boost his political base after giving in to the Democrats to end the closure.

"For Trump, for now, it's time," said Republican pollster Frank Luntz. "This speech, tonight, is not what you are against – it's what you are for. Tell the American people what you want to do and why."

Yet Trump's natural disposition is to fight, which constitutes a particularly contentious moment for the president who is fighting for the construction of a wall at the US-Mexican border and chastises Congressional Democrats and the media.

Trump said he was about to declare a national emergency, which would prompt the executive powers to try to redirect some federal funds toward building a border wall without congressional approval.

"We have set the stage for what will happen," Trump said last week.

Such an approach may pose legal problems and trigger a political storm. Some lawyers in the administration questioned the power of the president to do so, but plans were nevertheless developed for an emergency declaration.

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Mulvaney told Trump that a national emergency would be "viable" and sought public funds to exercise this option. Army Corps officials have reviewed draft statements while identifying at least three companies likely to start working on the wall without an application contract, according to people familiar with the planning of the project. # 39; administration.

In pursuit of a wall, Trump has few options. He does not want another government to close the post, considering that he had been politically criticized for the latter, and Democrats in the House have made it clear that they would not vote to fund the construction of a wall before the deadline of February 15 to adopt a new bill on domestic security spending.

Senate Republicans are also extremely reluctant to declare a national emergency, according to two key GOP aides. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell privately warned Trump last week that it could split the Republican Party, and told the President that Congress could pbad a resolution disapproving an emergency declaration.

Republican Mark Meadows, leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus group and Trump's confidante, said, "It's not their call.There is not a single president in the Senate. some who ran for president. "

The administration is also preparing for what one of its allies called "a storm storm" once House Democrats launched the promised surveillance investigations, which should examine the president's conduct. and his personal finances as well as alleged corruption within the administration.

White House lawyers Pat Cipollone and deputy attorney Michael Purpura met with agency executives to brief them on how to respond to requests for supervision and badistance. examine their staff. The lawyers developed a strategy on what they expect to see and Mulvaney met with the agency's chiefs of staff to help them prepare, according to a person who attended the meeting.

Chase Untermeyer, who served as the director of presidential staff under former President George H. W. Bush, said he was "puzzled". Trump has left so many senior political positions in his government, either vacant or filled with "interim" officials. These vacancies may be particularly problematic once Democrats' investigations begin, he said.

"Regardless of storm clouds, you must have a team fully deployed in the field, not only inside the White House, but also in departments and agencies," said Untermeyer.

Meanwhile, Trump was ruminating last week on a former White House badociate, Cliff Sims, whose full book describes dysfunction and disloyalty in the West Wing. Staff members presented excerpts from Sims's book to the president and defended themselves against the portrait of their ex-colleague, who, according to the advisers, only further agitated Trump, who dismissed Sims as " gofer "low level.

Trump was less focused on the memories of former New Jersey governor, Chris Christie – who wrote scathingly on Kushner but sympathetically on the president – although he told his aides that he was not the only one to be in the business. he did not "like" all of Christie's comments during his media tour, according to a senior official. White House official.

The president was also irritated by the media coverage of his intelligence officials, including National Intelligence Director Daniel Coats, and their testimony in Congress, where they contradicted the president on a number of national security issues, including Korea. North, Iran and the state of Islamic State. But officials said he had not read the testimony – he had only seen the press accounts – and that he was relieved when intelligence officials explained to him what was wrong with him. they had told the senators.

Over the weekend, Trump tried to escape Washington's problems by making his first trip in two months to Mar-a-Lago. After spending Christmas at the White House, the President traveled to Palm Beach, Florida, where he played golf with two sports legends.

"Super morning at Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter Florida with @JackNicklaus and @TigerWoods!" Trump tweeted Saturday with a picture of the three smiling ones.

The Washington Post