Trump’s admission of a ‘public relations’ problem tests claim he’s his own best messenger

President Donald Trump has spent much of his political career blaming the media when voters sour on him. But with Republicans facing a difficult final month before the midterm elections, Trump is increasingly acknowledging a problem inside his own operation: He and his administration have failed to sell their record, even as the White House maintains that Trump remains its most effective messenger.

Trump has repeatedly conceded this week that the White House has done a “bad public relations job,” at times putting the responsibility squarely on himself and at others faulting the administration more broadly for failing to communicate what he considers a successful first two years of his second term.