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By Reuters 
6h ago
Steve Holland
Washington – US President Donald Trump, under coronavirus quarantine at the White House and restricted from travel, is looking for ways to reignite his re-election fight and mount a big comeback with four weeks to go. elections.
Trump, who is still contagious, has been looking for options on how to spread his message and cut off the leadership of Democrat Joe Biden in the battle states where the Nov.3 election will be decided, advisers said.
They said they have been discussing Trump delivering a national address, while a speech for high-level voters is planned for Thursday.
Vice President Mike Pence’s debate with Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris in Salt Lake City will take center stage on Wednesday.
Complications abound. Trump aides say he is eager to get back into the campaign and insists on debating Democrat Joe Biden on Oct. 15 in Miami, but Biden said Tuesday he will not participate if Trump is not virus-free.
Any political boost Trump might get from a fresh injection of stimulus money into Americans’ pockets appears to be out of reach after he abruptly ended negotiations with Democrats on Tuesday with both sides very distant about how much money to spend on a agreement.
Both Biden and the top Democrat in the US Congress, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, accused Trump of abandoning Americans in need. Republican Senator Susan Collins, facing a difficult re-election in her home state of Maine, called Trump’s move a “big mistake.”
“The president turned his back on him,” Biden said in a Twitter post.
With layoffs in key industries increasing by the day and threatening the fragile recovery, Trump on Tuesday urged Congress to quickly pass $ 25 billion in funding for passenger airlines, $ 135 billion for small businesses, and provide $ 1,200 stimulus checks. for Americans. “I’m ready to sign right now,” Trump tweeted.
Trump’s push for the Republican-controlled Senate to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett before the Nov. 3 election may also be in question, as three Republican senators have been infected with the virus and may not be able to. vote.
A wave of infections in the White House among Trump’s top lieutenants and press office aides has left the West Wing struggling to find its footing. The latest infection came Tuesday when immigration hawk and speechwriter Stephen Miller spread the news that he had tested positive.
ABC News said its White House-related case count was now 23, including Trump and his wife, Melania.
Trump has tried to use his coronavirus infection to his political advantage, making a dramatic prime-time outing from Walter Reed Military Hospital on Monday and removing his mask for the cameras upon his return to the White House.
He described himself as a man who overcame the disease and emerged stronger. “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it take over your life,” he said in a widely criticized tweet on Monday.
But Trump’s handling of the virus since it began infecting people earlier this year has been met with deep skepticism by Americans who have told pollsters that he downplayed the calamity, that he never did enough. to defeat him and that he has not expressed empathy for the more than 210,000 who have died.
Advisers say Trump wanted to talk about other issues rather than the virus at this stage in the campaign, to pressure Biden.
But his own illness, along with that of the White House aides as the virus made its way through one of the safest buildings in the world, has forced the pandemic to return to center stage.
Trump’s absence from the election campaign has also been costly for him. He was expected to make a spin this week through western states to raise millions of dollars for a campaign facing a shortfall in Biden’s well-funded effort.
One adviser noted that almost exactly four years ago in 2016, the Trump campaign was derailed with the release of an “Access Hollywood” tape in which he boasted of groping women. He continued to beat the odds and won the election.
“He’s the real comeback guy and if anyone can come back from something it’s him,” said the advisor.
But with national polls showing him below double digits and Biden with significant advantages in many swing states, Trump appears to have a lot of work ahead of him.
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