But Trump’s dark warnings pose a central conundrum for his reelection effort: Can he win the White House a second time by railing against the very problems he promised to fix?

Trump allies are betting the strategy will work again by bolstering enthusiasm among his most avid supporters, particularly older white voters in the upper Midwest who clinched his victory the last time. But the approach also risks alienating moderate suburban voters, including those who took a chance on Trump’s candidacy in hopes that his dealmaker persona would overcome Washington gridlock…

Tim Murtaugh, communications director for the campaign, criticized “the constant moving of the goal posts” by Democrats in areas where the president has made progress that exceeds what his predecessors accomplished.

“First the opponents, say, ‘That’s something you can’t do,’ and then the opponents say, ‘You shouldn’t have done that,’ ” Murtaugh said. “Then you achieve success and they say, ‘Well, it’s not good enough.’”