Despondent, Desperate, With His Numbers In The Toilet And His World Of Delusions Crumbling, Trump Called Tucker Carlson Last Week: "What Do I Do? What Do I Do?"(And Plus He Is Helpless To Stop Publication Of His Niece's Book)

Ah, the sweet smell of schadenfreude.

Gabriel Sherman, Vanity Fair, July 2, 2020:

With Donald Trump's approval sinking to Jimmy Carter levels and coronavirus cases spiking across the country, Trump is reluctantly waking up to the grim reality that, if the current situation holds, his reelection is gone. Republicans that have spoken with Trump in recent days describe him as depressed and "down in the dumps." "People around him think his heart's not in it," a Republican close to the White House said. Torn between the imperative to win suburban voters and his instincts to play to his base, Trump has complained to people that he's in a political box with no obvious way out. According to the Republican, Trump called Tucker Carlson late last week and said, "What do I do? What do I do?"

To console himself, Trump still has moments of magical thinking. "He says the polls are all fake," a Republican in touch with Trump told me. But the bad news keeps coming. This week, Jacksonville, Florida—where Trump mandated that people wear masks indoors to slow the explosion of COVID-19 cases. According to a Republican working on the convention, the campaign is now preparing to cancel the event so that Trump doesn't suffer another Tulsa–like humiliation. "They probably won't have it," the source said. ...

Trump remains furious at his son-in-law Jared Kushner, whom he blames for the campaign's dismal poll numbers. Axios reported this week that Trump complained privately that Kushner's advice on criminal-justice reform damaged Trump politically. But because Kushner is family, sources say it's unlikely that Trump will formally strip him of authority.

Kushner's vast sway over West Wing decisions has become a flashpoint between him and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, sources say. The two have been engaged in a cold war over control of the campaign. ...

Nervous Republicans worried about losing the Senate are now debating when to break from Trump. Trump campaign internal polls show Trump's level of "strong support" dropping from 21 to 17 points since last week, a person briefed on the numbers said. A source close to Iowa Republican Joni Ernst's campaign said Ernst advisers are upset that a solid seat is now in play. "Joni's campaign is pissed. They should not be in a competitive race," the source said. ... A Republican strategist close to Mitch McConnell told me that Republicans have Labor Day penciled in as the deadline for Trump to have turned things around. After that, he's on his own.

Maggie Haberman and Alan Feuer, New York Times, July 1, 2020:

A New York appellate judge ruled on Wednesday that the publisher Simon & Schuster could go ahead with its plans to release a tell-all book by Mary L. Trump, the niece of President Trump, reversing a lower court's decision from this week that had temporarily halted publication.

The decision by the judge, Alan D. Scheinkman, means that Simon & Schuster can move forward in publishing the book, "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man," which is scheduled to be released at the end of July. In court papers filed on Tuesday, Simon & Schuster claimed that tens of thousands of copies of the book had already been printed, adding that it is a best seller on Amazon.