The resistance to building an aggressive effort to prevent impeachment is a reflection of a president isolated and distracted by political complaints.
In his last days in office, Trump still spends some time complaining about the election he lost to Joe Biden in November and surrounding himself with a handful of supporters – among them Rudy Giuliani – who have been with him since the beginning, according to interviews with eight current advisers and ex-Trump.
“From the election, day-to-day until the signing [executive orders] and the focus on politics has definitely diminished because its focus is on the election and the annulment of those results, ”said the White House official. “We are obviously not looking for any policy or anything like that.”
And since Twitter banned his account, Trump has been making more calls than usual – no, as a former Trump adviser said, “to more people”, but “the same people continually”.
“He’s talking to people who are willing to please him,” said a former senior government official.
Even more than usual, Trump has not engaged in the job of the presidency, leaving many of the official affairs to others, including Vice President Mike Pence, who chaired a coronavirus task force meeting at the White House on Monday. fair, while the number of pandemic victims increases with more than 3,000 deaths per day in the United States.
“Things that required a presidential signature certainly slowed down, and he was extremely focused on himself,” said a former senior government official. The official said that many conversations with Trump, even those on political issues, on the president complaining about an election that he still doesn’t publicly admit he lost.
“There was a feeling of bottleneck and more and more initiatives were accumulating, which is frustrating for everyone,” said the former employee.
The relationship between Trump and Pence has also been tense since last Wednesday, when the vice president refused to oppose Biden’s victory while presiding over a joint session of Congress to certify the election results. The president did not call Pence in the following days – an affront that made government officials furious at Trump. But the two met on Monday night in the Oval Office.
“The two had a good conversation, discussing the following week and reflecting on the past four years of government work and achievements,” said a senior government official. “They also agreed that those who invaded Capitol do not represent the America First movement.”
Trump’s conversation with Pence was not the only sign that he was trying to make amends amid the threat of impeachment and tying the loose ends of his presidency elsewhere. The White House on Monday also said that Trump had “declared that there is an emergency in the District of Columbia” and ordered federal assistance to complement efforts around the inauguration day. Trump also awarded Representative Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) the Presidential Medal of Freedom and is expected to visit Alamo, Texas, to see the U.S.-Mexico border wall on Tuesday, which could be his last trip during his term.
But elsewhere, acts of government have declined dramatically, including ceremonial elements. Plans to reward New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, the Presidential Medal of Freedom appeared discarded after Belichick said he would not attend. And the president’s daily public schedule gave no indication of actual events.
Since December 23, the schedule includes 15 language variations: “President Trump will work from early morning until late at night. He will make many calls and have many meetings ”. A former White House official said the language was inserted into Trump’s directive to give the impression that he is busy.
“That was [he] who ordered it to be done, “said the official,” and he wanted to combat that narrative [that he wasn’t working]. ”
The White House did not answer specific questions about impeachment or accusations that Trump was not actively engaged in the government. Instead, spokesman Judd Deere issued a statement: “In the past four years, President Trump has reversed government regulations, built the strongest and most inclusive economy in history, brought agency responsibility, is bringing our troops home , developed a safe, effective vaccine in record time, and changed the way domestic and international agreements are made so that the results really help working Americans. This important work continues along with the reconstruction of our economy and the fulfillment of the promises he made that led to a safer, stronger and more secure America. “
Obliging Trump’s final days is the threat of impeachment. A single article has already brought together at least 218 co-sponsors in the Chamber, according to a parliamentary adviser involved in the process, meeting the majority required for approval in the Chamber. After a vote in the House, the article is expected to be forwarded to the Senate, where majority leader Mitch McConnell has indicated that a trial is unlikely to begin until the chamber returns on January 19.
When he was impeached for the first time in 2019 on charges that used the powers of his office to pressure the President of Ukraine to investigate Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, Trump undertook an aggressive defense with a team of lawyers, a war room, Republican lawmakers assisting in their defense and hundreds of media interviews with advisors to calm public opinion.
Today, Trump has surrounded himself with some of the original advisers he trusted before he even entered the White House – senior policy advisor Stephen Miller; Director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, John McEntee; Director of Social Networks Dan Scavino; and Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The number of employees in the White House had already declined because of the coronavirus, the holidays and the approaching end of the government. Hope Hicks, one of Trump’s closest advisers, has not worked in the White House for weeks, two people said. She plans to leave her post this week.
Instead, Trump is relying heavily on the advice of White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former top campaign advisers Jason Miller and Steve Cortes, as well as a small team of lawyers, led by Giuliani, the former mayor. from New York, who continues to count Trump he won the election, although, in fact, he lost, according to two people.
Republicans have long tried to convince Trump to dismiss Giuliani – or “My Rudy,” as the president sometimes calls him – but to no avail.
“The majority of the team is increasingly frustrated and frustrated with the situation and wants to get to the finish line and end it all,” said a former White House official.
Meridith McGraw, Alex Isenstadt, Gabby Orr and Lara Seligman contributed to this report.