President is bringing back his 2016 team
NEW YORK — As anyone who has ever heard him speak knows, President Trump loves to relive 2016.
He recycles old attack lines once aimed at Hillary Clinton. He recounts the drama of election night, complete with impersonations of stunned news anchors putting state after state (Pennsylvania! Wisconsin!) in the Republican’s column.
At other times, in private calls from the White House residence, he reminisces about the camaraderie of those days, turning nostalgic as he remembers being surrounded by a ragtag team of campaign staffers as his private plane flew from one city to another.
Now, Trump is getting the band back together again.
The president in recent days has signed off on hiring a number of his 2016 veterans for his 2020 campaign, a reenlistment of loyalists that follows the return of other members of his original team to the West Wing. A creature of habit who demands loyalty and trusts few, Trump is trying to recreate the magic of his original team five months before he faces voters again.
But 2020 is not 2016. Trump’s advisers are increasingly worried about the state of the campaign as the president faces multiple crises, from the health and economic fallout of thepandemic to the mass protests.
“He can’t win on nostalgia. It’s not the same race.
This is not going to be about slogans or themes, it’s going to be about what you did for me and why I should reelect you based on your record,” said Sam Nunberg, who advised Trump early in his first campaign and said he will not be rejoining the campaign.
Though outwardly confident, Trump has privately told advisers he cannot believe polls that show him trailing Joe Biden, and he has angrily snapped at campaign manager Brad Parscale over the state of the race, according to officials.
In the past week, the Trump campaign hired Jason Miller, communications director in 2016, to focus on strategy and coordinate between the campaign and the White
House.
Boris Epshteyn, who after 2016 became a commentator for the conservative Sinclair Broadcast network, came back to be a strategic adviser for coalitions. Bill Stepien, a top adviser in 2016, was recently promoted to deputy campaign manager. Justin Clark, another longtime aide, has led the Trump campaign’s legal efforts.
Some of Trump’s 2016 team never left. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the president’s daughter and soninlaw, are senior advisers. Kellyanne Conway, the president’s final 2016 campaign manager, remains a senior White House counselor.