Trump strikes confident Churchillian pose atop Resolute Desk for magazine cover: 'My whole life is a bet'
President Donald Trump rocked a Churchillian pose as he sat atop the Resolute desk in the White House for a Time magazine issue that came out on Thursday, June 20.
Speaking of his disruptive political strategy, the president said he is now trying to shift his focus from reaching out to swing states via calculated appeals that would eventually draw majority support, according to a Daily Mail report.
Trump is, instead, doubling down on his newly devised strategy to strengthen the loyalty of his base by attacking the Russia "Collusion Delusion", "Angry" Democrats, and the much-needed immigration reform.
In a conversation with the magazine in the Oval Office, Trump asserted with beaming confidence: "I think my base is so strong, I'm not sure that I have to do that."
His re-election campaign launch in Orlando, Florida, on June 18, was a testament to his conviction, where a packed arena joined him to bash the "phony dossier" and, of course, "Crooked Hillary Clinton".
"They will strip Americans of their Constitutional rights while flooding the country with illegal immigrants in the hopes it will expand their political base and they'll get votes someplace down the future," he said of the Democrats. "That's what it's about," he added.
Meanwhile, Brad Parscale, Trump's 2020 campaign manager, described the strategy as "turnout, turnout, turnout". "People all think you have to change people's minds. You have to get people to show up that believe in you," he said.
Former chief White House strategist and Trump's 2016 campaign guru Steve Bannon also echoed a similar mission. "You have to get every f****** deplorable. Everybody's got to show up," he said.
The issue casts Trump as a gambler, recalling how his Atlantic City casinos ended in bankruptcy but he was able to use it to his advantage and make millions later. "My whole life is a bet," he said in a quote that made the cover.
Mainstream polls tell a different story though. The Economic / YouGov poll has former Vice President Joe Biden leading Trump by 10 points, a St. Petersburg Times poll has Trump and Biden tied in Florida, and the latest Gallup poll released on June 20 has the president's disapproval at 55 percent. However, the outcome remains to be seen.
At one point during the interview, Trump reportedly asked an aide to get him a hand-written birthday card North Korean Supremo Kim Jong-un sent to him.
The commander-in-chief is planning another juggernaut campaign strongly backed by the Republican National Committee, after solidifying their support in 2016. The party chairwoman announced on June 19 that Trump had raised more money in the hours after his 2020 launch than most of his Democratic counterparts combined.
Following his Orlando kickoff, he had "raised a record-breaking $24.8M in less than 24 hours for his re-election", Ronna McDaniel revealed in a tweet.