#white-house-strategy

#white-house-strategy

Trump, we're told, reads major newspapers in hard copy, toggles across cable networks throughout the day, marks up stories with a Sharpie, and calls Cabinet officials when front-page articles catch his attention. Aides understand that television appearances affect their standing. Lawmakers text him stories directly. Coverage prompts calls and scrutiny. Trump is described as a ravenous reader, a description that may be true, but also conveys discipline and command.

All of that changed as the vote totals rolled in. Democrats' resounding statewide victories in Virginia, New Jersey, Georgia, and elsewhere highlighted a more robust repudiation of Trump and his party than politicians from either side of the aisle had expected. Now both parties are recalibrating their shutdown strategies while the White House weighs a more direct role in cutting a deal. Any prospect of the government reopening this week appears to be slipping away.