- US President Donald Trump is consumed by the House impeachment investigation, neglecting policy areas in which he once took a close interest to follow proceedings and complain about them, Politico reported Friday.
- Trump is devoting large swaths of the day to “monitoring reactions to impeachment, as well as what his defenders are saying, on Twitter and on cable news,” Politico said.
- The White House has packed Trump’s public schedule during the hearings to portray an image of a president hard at work for the American people amid the impeachment turmoil.
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US President Donald Trump is consumed by the House impeachment investigation and spends his days monitoring coverage and complaining to close aides, White House sources told Politico.
The White House has attempted to maintain an appearance of business as usual as a series of witnesses have come forward with highly damaging testimony.
The White House has filled the president’s public schedule during the hearings, in what Axios reported was a bid to keep the president distracted from the hearings and to maintain the public image of a president continuing to serve the country amid the turmoil.
But sources told Politico in an article published Friday that behind the scenes the president was so consumed by the investigation that he was neglecting policy areas he formerly took a close interest in, such as trade and immigration.
Instead of thinking about policy, Politico reported, Trump is devoting large swaths of the day to "monitoring reactions to impeachment, as well as what his defenders are saying, on Twitter and on cable news."
He then "relays his concerns to the group of aides handling the White House's impeachment strategy," the report added.
Trump's Twitter feed has also betrayed the extent to which impeachment has preoccupied him, with the president tweeting or retweeting up to 60 messages a day attacking the proceedings, seeking to discredit key witnesses, or showing Republicans attempting to expose what they see as flaws in witnesses' testimony.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.
The report indicates that impeachment proceedings are likely to continue to overshadow other developments in Washington as the US moves into an election year.