Trump's advisers are concealing how badly he is performing in swing states to keep him happy, report says

• President Donald Trump's campaign officials are giving him misleading assurances about how well his reelection campaign is going, a Republican source told The New York Times.
• Recent polls show Trump trailing in several swing states to Joe Biden, his presumptive Democratic challenger.
• Trump has refused to tone down his rhetoric in response to his decline in the polls, and top aides are said to fear he is headed for defeat.

President Donald Trump's campaign officials are misleading him with the idea he is doing better in his bid for reelection than he really is, a Republican official in frequent contact with the campaign told The New York Times.

The Republican, who spoke with The Times on the condition of anonymity, said some aides "willfully distort the electoral landscape to mollify Mr. Trump."

The official recalled a conversation in which aides assured Trump he was performing well in Maine, a swing state where in fact he has trailed the presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, by double digits in polls.

The Trump campaign is said to be in turmoil with recent polls — including one Wednesday by CNBC and Change Research, showing Trump trailing Biden in several swing states as well as nationally.

Campaign officials, according to The Times, believe that behind the slide is the president's faltering response to the coronavirus crisis, the George Floyd-inspired anti-racism protests, and recent reports alleging that he refused to take action after being briefed by US intelligence that Russia was paying for attacks on US troops in Afghanistan.

It's not just campaign officials who are thought to be wary of delivering bad news or unwelcome information to the president.

CNN this week reported that intelligence officials were wary of providing briefings on Russian hostility toward the US because the president had no interest in hearing it and would react angrily to bad news.

In the wake of the protests sparked by Floyd's death in Minneapolis, Trump has refused moderate his message to appeal to independent voters, contradicting the advice of aides, NBC News reported, instead doubling down on racially divisive statements and tweets.