In private, Mr. Trump’s mood is often sullen
and erratic, his associates say. He veers from barking at members of his staff
to grumbling about how he was better off following his own instincts
during the primaries and suggesting he should not have heeded their calls for change.
...
...in interviews with more than 20 Republicans who are close to Mr. Trump or in communication with his campaign, many of whom insisted on anonymity to avoid clashing with him, they described their nominee as exhausted, frustrated and still bewildered by fine points of the political process and why his incendiary approach seems to be sputtering.
...
He is routinely preoccupied with perceived slights...
...
And Mr. Trump has begun to acknowledge to associates and even in public that he might lose.
...he is profoundly uncomfortable in the role of a typical general election candidate, disoriented by the crosscurrents he must now navigate and still relying impulsively on a pugilistic formula that guided him to the nomination.
After a meeting in late May between Mr. Trump and Karl Rove, the architect of George W. Bush’s presidential victories, Mr. Rove told associates he was stunned by Mr. Trump’s poor grasp of campaign basics...
Mr. Rove later told people he believed Mr. Trump was confused and scared in anticipation of the general election, according to people who have heard Mr. Rove’s account.
and erratic, his associates say. He veers from barking at members of his staff
to grumbling about how he was better off following his own instincts
during the primaries and suggesting he should not have heeded their calls for change.
...
...in interviews with more than 20 Republicans who are close to Mr. Trump or in communication with his campaign, many of whom insisted on anonymity to avoid clashing with him, they described their nominee as exhausted, frustrated and still bewildered by fine points of the political process and why his incendiary approach seems to be sputtering.
...
He is routinely preoccupied with perceived slights...
...
And Mr. Trump has begun to acknowledge to associates and even in public that he might lose.
...he is profoundly uncomfortable in the role of a typical general election candidate, disoriented by the crosscurrents he must now navigate and still relying impulsively on a pugilistic formula that guided him to the nomination.
After a meeting in late May between Mr. Trump and Karl Rove, the architect of George W. Bush’s presidential victories, Mr. Rove told associates he was stunned by Mr. Trump’s poor grasp of campaign basics...
