President hits reset with friendly audience
Nearly a month into a presidency full of missteps, Donald Trump returned to firmer ground outside of Washington, staging a raucous campaign rally in Melbourne, Florida, with a throng of adoring supporters who helped sweep him into the White House.
For 45 minutes, there was no talk of the President’s falling approval ratings or turmoil in his Administration. Instead, Trump rattled off familiar campaign promises, scolded the media, mocked protesters gathered outside, declared that it is “a new day in America” and basked in applause from a crowd of 9000 that waited hours in the sun to see him.
“This will be change for the ages, change like never before,” Trump thundered towards the end of his remarks, which included several exaggerations and misrepresentations about his fledgling presidency.
The airport hangar event was the clearest indication of a Trump Administration trying to regroup.
Starting with a let-Trump-be-Trump news conference on Friday, he has sought to regain control of his presidency, insisting that his Administration is “running like a finetuned machine”.
His Administration took steps that seemed aimed at creating a fresh start. Trump hired a communications director to ease the burden on his embattled press secretary, and he is interviewing candidates for national security adviser following the hasty departure of Michael Flynn. He promised a new version this week of his now-frozen Executive Order on immigration, which has come to symbolise his struggle to translate aggressive campaign goals into policy.
During a speech in South Carolina on Saturday, the President returned to the issues that made him popular in the first place: job creation, restricting trade and putting America first.
“This certainly looks like a reset,” said Timothy Naftali, a presidential historian. He called Trump’s rally yesterday “an attempt to inject some adrenaline into his Administration and shake a perception of loserdom”. Doug Heye, a Republican strategist, said: “After several weeks of turmoil, it’s getting back to what worked for him as a candidate. Trump has always been his most effective advocate.”
Some both inside and outside the White House blame Trump’s recent problems on staff, not the President, and the young ages of many aides often come up in complaints from those close to Trump. Priebus has also faced increasing pressure from Republicans to better control the President and rid the White House of ongoing turmoil and chaos.
John Weaver, a GOP strategist, said responsibility lies with Trump. “He’s not able to govern right now. He can shuffle around staff but until he understands he has to have discipline, and not just discipline in message, nothing is going to change.”