Despondent Trump aides fear he is wrecking his chances of reelection and doesn't actually want a second term, report says

• President Trump's refusal to change course amid tanking poll ratings has top advisers wondering whether he really wants a second term, The New York Times reported.
• The president doubled down despite widespread criticism of his response to the coronavirus crisis and anti-racism protests, seemingly endangering his electoral prospects.
• In recent weeks Trump campaign officials have grown increasingly concerned about polls showing the president losing in swing states to Joe Biden.

President Donald Trump's "self-destructive" behavior and refusal to heed advice has top aides so worried they are wondering whether the really wants a second term in office, The New York Times reported.

According to the report, the president was starkly warned by top advisers that unless he stops his "incendiary" behavior in response to the George Floyd anti-racism protests he was on course for defeat in November's presidential election.

But Trump refused to take notice, the report said, doubling down on divisive statements.

He also took incendiary actions like threatening to use the military against protesters, or arranging photo-op outside the White House for which protesters were cleared by police with pepper spray.

"The president is acting trapped and defensive, and his self-destructive behavior has been so out of step for an incumbent in an election year that many advisers wonder if he is truly interested in serving a second term," according to the Times.

The report goes on to claim that in stead of planning for a second term, the president is obsessed with negative press coverage of his administration.

The times said he is particularly fixated on identifying who leaked information about him being taken to a high-security bunker beneath the White House during recent protests.

In a statement, a White House spokeswoman, Alyssa Farah, told the Times, "The president is fully committed to serving a second term and building on and adding to his first-term accomplishments for the American people."

Trump's reelection team is said to be concerned about a slew of polls that show the president trailing his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, in several swing states, amid the fallout of his handling of the coronavirus crisis and George Floyd protests, reported the Wall Street Journal in June.