- President Donald Trump is reportedly consumed by the House impeachment probe, neglecting policy areas in which he once took a close interest to follow proceedings and complain about them, reported Politico.
- 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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President Donald Trump is totally consumed by the House impeachment probe 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 evidence against Trump.
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 testimony, and to hammer home an image to the public of a president continuing to serve the country amid the turmoil.
But sources told Politico that behind the scenes the president is so consumed by the probe that he is neglecting policy areas he formerly took a close interest in, such as trade and immigration.
Instead of thinking about policy, Politico reports, 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 adds.
The president's Twitter feed has also betrayed the extent to which impeachment has obsessed 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 will likely continue to overshadow other developments in Washington as the US moves into an election year.