'He cares about his grievances and his reelection, and that's it'

[Demovictory9]

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/11/22/trump-sets-aside-policy-to-save-his-job-072769

‘He cares about his grievances and his reelection, and that’s it‘
Trump spent the first years of his presidency micromanaging policy moves. These days, his monomaniacal focus is on surviving an existential threat.



As White House aides and senior administration officials scramble to keep his administration afloat, Trump has become monomaniacally focused on impeachment. Policy meetings and listening sessions have taken a backseat to his indignant tweeting and live analysis of witness testimony. The details of issues that once consumed his attention — such as immigration and trade — have been outsourced to senior officials, and Trump has opted to let others do the talking during meetings with foreign leaders that he would normally command himself.

“His top priority right now is making sure voters know this is the single greatest scam in the history of politics,” said a Republican close to the White House, borrowing a phrase Trump used in a White House video circulated last week. “If that sometimes means spending less time in Washington and more time interacting with Americans, that is what he’s going to do.”

But even when Trump has been at work in the West Wing, aides say his preoccupation with impeachment creeps into every discussion. Six current administration officials and people close to the president described Trump as increasingly interested in how the investigation is affecting his political standing, and more paranoid than ever about Republican defections.


In late-night phone calls to longtime pals, Trump has grumbled about the stain impeachment is likely to leave on his legacy, according to a Republican who spoke with the president recently. Others said he spends the bulk of his time monitoring reactions to impeachment, as well as what his defenders are saying, on Twitter and on cable news, and then relays his concerns to the group of aides handling the White House’s impeachment strategy.

When Trump has participated in official events recently — a White House reception celebrating his judicial appointments, a speech at the International Association of Chiefs of Police, a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart — they have been intrinsically linked to his reelection bid. And often, the president’s blustery comments about impeachment during those events have distracted from the events themselves.

[emulatorloo]

1. " Policy meetings ... have taken a backseat to his indignant tweeting"

Dunno, he’s been doing that since Day 1 as far as I can tell”