2 Reports Describe Trump as Deeply Impacted by Midterms

The Los Angeles Times and Washington Post are out with complementary pieces focused on what they see as President Trump's changing temperament in the wake of the midterms.

• At the Los Angeles Times, Eli Stokols contrasts Trump's frequent "ebullient" appearances at campaign rallies with a post-midterms retreat "into a cocoon of bitterness and resentment," at least according to the administration sources he spoke with. The evidence Stokols gives of that retreat: While past presidents have attended the annual Asia summits, Trump sent Mike Pence in his stead; he opted not to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Veterans Day as is traditional; he had Mike Pompeo meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah II when he visited Washington on Tuesday; and he has decided not to join Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on a visit to the US-Mexico border. Stokols' sources see these contributing factors: "the certainty that the incoming Democratic House majority will go after his tax returns and investigate his actions, and the likelihood of additional indictments by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III." Read the article in full here.

• In an article for the Washington Post titled "Five Days of Fury," Josh Dawsey and Philip Rucker detail exactly that as based on interviews with "14 senior administration officials, outside Trump confidants and foreign diplomats." They begin those five days last Friday, with a call Trump received from British Prime Minister Theresa May, who offered her congratulations on the GOP's wins; what she was allegedly greeted with in response was Trump's "especially foul mood" as he brought up subjects like Iran, Brexit, and trade deals. Read the article, which delves into his tweets and potential staff upheaval, in full here.

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