As a grim fall approaches, Trump team feels increasingly confident

As the crippling crisis turns toward a third season, an alternate reality is taking shape inside the White House even in the face of spiking case counts, long lags in test processing and a Covid-19 death toll that regularly tops 1,000 Americans a day. Trump aides are growing confident about what they see as measurable progress: new therapeutic measures, delivery of health recommendations tailored to individual states, extensive support for vaccine development and steps to ensure hospitals have enough protective equipment and ventilators.

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Officials internally are also pleased with two changes from Trump himself: the president wearing a mask at times, after avoiding the preventive measure for months, and his resumption of near-daily press briefings, which they feel show Trump is attuned to the crisis and driving the response despite the wide-ranging nature of the events.

One former senior administration official said the White House is attempting to convey the perception of control — even as a handful of top aides including chief of staff Mark Meadows express skepticism privately about guidance from the government’s leading scientists. A key goal is to demonstrate they’re once again on top of Americans’ No. 1 concern, after first pushing states to reopen before they met the government’s own benchmarks and then downplaying the worsening spread of the virus for months.

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