Trump, in homestretch, is as Trump-like as ever

MIAMI — It was an unorthodox event for what has been a decidedly unorthodox campaign, but Donald Trump and his aides still saw an opportunity.

Irked by headlines questioning his business practices and his relationship with Hispanics and women, the Republican presidential nominee had pushed his campaign to schedule an event at his tony golf resort here, where he would tout his record as a job creator and an employer of a mostly Latina workforce.

Trump would stand against the backdrop of dozens of employees — invited by the resort’s general manager, David Feder, who had mentioned the idea to the candidate in passing a few days earlier. What better plan to win over the voters of battleground state Florida, Trump argued, than to remind them that he was the owner of popular golf courses here that generate jobs and tax dollars for the local economy?

In some ways powerless to control a candidate who has often bragged that he is his own best strategist, Trump aides added the last-minute event Tuesday, seeing it as a chance for the real estate mogul to seize on a potential opening heading into the final days of the campaign: An Obama administration report released Monday suggested premiums for some of the insurance plans created by the Affordable Care Act could rise as much as 25 percent next year, offering fresh ammunition for Trump and other Republicans who have campaigned heavily against Obamacare.

It would be a free and clear hit on a core Democratic policy backed by Hillary Clinton and a chance for Trump to back up his claims that Obamacare has been unaffordable for everyday Americans and a burden on small business. Trump has frequently pledged to “repeal and replace” Obamacare while reminding voters that Clinton supports it.

But Trump being Trump, the candidate did not stick to the script. This freewheeling habit has defined his unlikely run for president and has darkened the mood of aides desperate to keep him focused and on message in the final days of a campaign that increasingly seems to be tilting away from them.

Taking the mic here at a stage set up just off the green at the golf club before a group of employees and his traveling press corps, Trump seemed to be adhering to aides’ admonitions to stay focused, suggesting Obamacare was “blowing up.” But then he began meandering. He said “all of his employees” at Doral were having “tremendous problems with Obamacare.” But Feder, the general manager, later said 95 percent of the club’s employees are on company-provided insurance.

And as he has been known to do, Trump soon ventured into infomercial territory, bragging about his “tremendous success” at Doral, which he called “one of the great places on the earth.” “The bookings are through the roof!” he declared. He got in a shout-out for his newest property: a hotel in the Old Post Office Building in Washington, D.C., where he diverted off the campaign to attend the formal grand opening on Wednesday. “I always said I’m getting to Pennsylvania Avenue one way or another,” Trump declared.

He also seized on two of his favorite topics: bashing the “dishonest media” and suggesting that “the polls” show he is leading Clinton in the final stretch before Election Day. This was just a day after he told supporters he didn’t believe the polls because they are “rigged” against him. “I actually think we are winning,” Trump said, adding that he was “tremendously confident” he would win Florida.

Privately, Trump aides are not as upbeat — although they echo their boss in attacking media coverage they say is tilted in favor of Clinton, they also acknowledging that Trump, in many ways, has been his own worst enemy. Though his campaign has tried again and again to keep him on message — and for several weeks in late August and September, it seemed they had succeeded — the candidate has repeatedly rejected the strategy of his advisers, including his campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, who have urged him to “stick to the issues,” as she puts it.

Last weekend, in what seemed to be a political Hail Mary pass, Trump aides scheduled what they described as a major policy speech that would serve as his closing argument. His team was desperate to change the subject away from the dozen women who have accused Trump of groping and other misconduct.

Likening the speech to the vaunted “Contract With America” put forward in 1994 by then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Trump aides said it would lay out for voters exactly what they would get if they were to vote for the him. And it would be delivered at the historic battlefields of Gettysburg, Pa., the place where the Civil War “turned,” one Trump aide noted.

But when Trump took the stage, he almost immediately broke away from his teleprompter to rage at the media and his female accusers, insisting he had been maliciously and wrongfully accused and vowing to sue the women who had leveled charges against him. “Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign,” Trump declared, calling it all a “total fabrication.” “The events never happened. Never. All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.”

Trump aides tried unsuccessfully to spin the candidate’s prepared text — including his pledge to work to “heal” a divided nation in the aftermath of this polarizing election — as the major headline of the event. Making the rounds of the Sunday talk shows, Conway argued that Trump’s airing of personal grievances was just a “small piece” of the 40-minute speech. The remarks, meant to be a defining moment in the closing days of the campaign, have scarcely been mentioned since.

According to two Trump aides, who declined to be named speaking about the internal workings of the campaign, Conway and others expressed their frustration to Trump after his Gettysburg address, bluntly telling him that his off-message remarks are hurting an effort they still believe is winnable.

Conway, who did not respond to a request for comment, seemed to confirm her frustration, recounting in an unusually frank interview with CNN’s Dana Bash a conversation she had with Trump after the speech. “That comment you just made sounds like you think you’re going to lose,” Conway said she told Trump. She warned him they would “fight” until he stuck to talking about the issues, which she said was the only path to victory. The candidate’s reply, according to Conway: “OK, honey, then we’ll win.”

But Conway, who has said she does not “sugar-coat” her advice to Trump, also acknowledged that he chooses his own messaging. “It’s his campaign, and it’s his candidacy,” she said.

On Wednesday morning, Trump took the stage before hundreds of reporters in an ornate ballroom at his new hotel a few short blocks from the White House in Washington, D.C., which is a Democratic stronghold. The same day, Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, had an event in Utah, a reliably red state where polls show a competitive third-party candidate, Evan McMullin.

Trump aides defended the D.C. trip — pointing to the many days Clinton had spent off the campaign trail in recent weeks. And unlike other events at Trump properties throughout his bid for the presidency, they insisted it wasn’t a political event, though it was being staffed by his campaign.

It didn’t take long for Trump to contradict his staff. Taking the microphone after his daughter, Ivanka, spoke, the celebrity businessman first thanked his family before turning to the teleprompter to carefully deliver a long riff pitching his bid for the presidency. Pointing to the renovation of the building, which had languished in disrepair for years, Trump flatly declared he wanted to do the same for America.

But then, spying Gingrich in the audience, Trump broke from the script to acknowledge the former House speaker, who sparred on his behalf with Fox News host Megyn Kelly in an interview Tuesday night. Trump has fiercely attacked Kelly since launching his campaign in the summer of 2015.

“By the way — congratulations, Newt, on last night,” Trump said with a smile. “That was an amazing interview. We don’t play games here. We don’t play games.”