Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump during a campaign event at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Ariz., on Friday. Tom Brenner/The Washington Post Republican nominee Donald Trump looked cheerful playing golf at his New Jersey club one day earlier this month, then appeared bored in an afternoon news conference and dour during a reception with megadonor Miriam Adelson.
He publicly mused about staying home during of the Democratic National Convention, letting Vice President Kamala Harris hold the spotlight unchallenged. Several former aides who have known Trump for years said he always preferred to keep a lighter schedule in August, where his family visited Bedminster and he usually golfed almost every day. But aides did not want a situation where he was watching the convention every night, getting angry, and then just golfing all day and stewing, according to people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private interactions.
Trump also had grown annoyed with the news coverage that depicted him as not working as hard as his opponent, one person who talked to him said. So the campaign launched back-to-back events over the past week, with the goal of counterprogramming the Democratic convention and securing news coverage, as other campaigns have often done, but also as a way to keep Trump busy. The candidate, though, often appeared reluctant.
He frequently departed from the policy themes assigned to each day’s event – an attempt to keep him focused on pol.