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Donald Trump reached the height of his popularity right before he became president in January. Ever since then, his poll numbers have been moving steady downward. Even in late December Trump still was notviewed favorably by a majority of Americans, according to polling averages.

With Trumppromotinga deeply unpopular health care plan and enmeshed in a scandal surrounding his current and former associates dealings with the Russian government, hisapproval ratings are literally at their lowest point of his presidency according to poll aggregator RealClearPolitics. Just less than40 percent of Americans approve of the job that Trump is doing in office when the most recent surveys are averaged together. That mirrors data from FiveThirtyEight, which gaveTrump a 39 percent approval rating as well.

Most presidential administrations would be sounding internal alarm bells upon hearingsuch low figures, but Trump and the Republicans hehas allied himself with seem to be coming to the realization that things arent likely to change anytime soon. So instead of trying to increase his support by working with Democrats on some bipartisan legislation, Trump and the GOP appear to be embracing the idea of keeping his hard-core supporters happy and motivated in the hopes that the presidents critics dont show up.

Its a risky strategy but one that is actually somewhat in line with the 2004 re-election strategy of former President George W. Bush. During that year, his top strategists Karl Rove and Matt Dowd came to the conclusion that swing voters dont really exist and therefore going toward the middlewouldntbe worth potentially alienating dedicated supporters.

Nobody had ever approached an election that Ive looked at over the last 50 years, where base motivation was important as swing, which is how we approached it, Dowd told PBS in 2005. We didnt say base motivation is what were going to do, and thats all were doing. We said both are important, but we shouldnt be putting 80 percent of our resources into persuasion and 20 percent into base motivation.

That strategy was one that was largely copied by former President Barack Obama when he ran for re-election in 2012. Facing big drops in millennial white support (his GOP rival Mitt Romney actually won over that group) and greater apathy among black Americans who had already made history by voting forObama, hiscampaign operation focused most of its resources ongaining the support of people who had enabled his capture of 365 Electoral College votes.

The problem for Trump, however, is that his base is continuing to shrink not just because elderly voters representedthe only age group with a majority thatvoted for him but also because more and more people are leaving the Republican Party.

Trying to keep happy the dwindling percentage of people who do choose to remain Republican is therefore the No. 1 job for those within the Trump administration and its a huge part of why he recently withdrew from a climate change agreement that was signed by Obama. The bet is that while the public says it wants to abide by the Paris treaty (the Senatestill had to voteon itfor the United States to be bound by its terms even if Trump hadnt withdrawn from the pact), environmental issues dont affect voting decisions that much.

Expect more such decisions of this nature in the very near future from Trump. The White Househas essentially admitted that its anti-government views wont be able to gainthe support of a majority of Americans. If enough congressional Republicans go along with this, expect even more stark policy changes to happen, especially as the party is trying to turn national media outlets into its opponents instead of Democrats.

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Donald Trump is massively unpopular, and he's making no effort to change that - Salon

BuzzFeed News

No, Londoners Didn't Chant "Donald Trump, We Love You" After The Attack BuzzFeed News An old video of protesters chanting "Donald Trump, we love you" has resurfaced in the wake of the London attack. It's being passed off as a recent recording by Trump supporters. Sadiq Khan is an EMBARRASSMENT Londoners chant #Trump's name ...

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No, Londoners Didn't Chant "Donald Trump, We Love You" After The Attack - BuzzFeed News

Did he release a statement offering condolences to the victims? Did he grant an interview with a TV network to insist that the US remains resolute in our fight against terror even in the wake of these latest attacks? Nope! He tweeted! Five times, to be exact.

On Saturday night, Trump kicked off his tweetstorm with this: "We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!"

After a night's sleep, Trump woke up Sunday morning and, around 8 a.m., fired off three more tweets.

"We must stop being politically correct and get down to the business of security for our people. If we don't get smart it will only get worse," Trump started.

"At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is "no reason to be alarmed!," he continued.

"Do you notice we are not having a gun debate right now? That's because they used knives and a truck!," he ended.

Of those five, one is the sort of thing you can imagine a president not named Donald Trump saying in the wake of a major terrorism event like the one in London; that's the second one Saurday night in which he pledges to help London in whatever way they need it and insists America stands with them.

ISIS claims responsibility for London attack 01:59

The other four tweets are pure Trump -- and the exact opposite of what we have long considered "presidential."

In one -- the first he sends out -- he uses the just-breaking terror attacks as a way to make the case for his travel ban, which continues to be hung up in the courts.

In another, he suggests political correctness is responsible for the attack, a common Trump refrain during the campaign.

In a third, he takes on those pushing gun control -- noting that they are silent because these attacks didn't involve guns.

And, finally and most Trumpian, he attacks the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, for allegedly insisting that the people of London have "no reason to be alarmed."

Witnesses saw bodies 'flipped into the air' 01:47

Khan is clearly referring not to the threat from terrorists but to the increased police presence when he uses the words "no reason to be alarmed." Trump chooses to misunderstand him for political purposes.

Trump tweeting things to forward his own agenda in the wake of terrorist attacks is nothing new. Following shootings in an Orlando nightclub that left 49 people dead, Trump offered this: "Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don't want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart!" After an incident of a knife-wielding man at the Louvre Museum in Paris, Trump tweeted: "A new radical Islamic terrorist has just attacked in Louvre Museum in Paris. Tourists were locked down. France on edge again. GET SMART U.S."

In short, the tweetstorm following the London attacks isn't the exception, it's the rule for Trump. Using these attacks to prove his political point is his default position not a one-time popping off.

Trump tweets response to incidents in London 01:35

Trump's responses are the latest example of how he is radically altering the idea of what it means to be "presidential." During the 2016 campaign, Trump's attacks on John McCain's war hero status, his savaging of a Gold Star family, his wild exaggerations about his wealth and his seeming disinterest in the truth were all taken, at one point or another, as signs that he simply wasn't "presidential" enough to actually win anything. That, while voters liked his unorthodox style, they would eventually tire of him as they looked for the sort of statesman who had traditionally held the nation's top political job.

It didn't happen. And Trump has never stopped. His quintet of tweets on London are not only something that no previous American president would ever have said, they're also statements that it's hard to imagine any other leader in any other democracy around the world saying.

They are more the statements of a conservative talk radio show host than they are of what we have come to think of as a president -- bombastic, over the top and out of context. They are, by traditional standards, anti-presidential.

Which, come to think of it, is a good way to describe Trump. He is sort of an anti-president -- at least in terms of how we have always defined those terms. Trump's attitude and approach in office is closer to Jerry Springer than to Gerald Ford. He's more Limbaugh than Lincoln.

What we know: Trump isn't going to stop Trumping. The only question now is whether voters want an anti-president as their president.

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The London terror tweets prove Donald Trump is never going to be 'presidential' - CNN

This post has been updated.

President Trump is no dewy-eyed debutante, but Sunday marked his coming-out party.

The noted homebody since coming to Washington, he has socialized only at the White House and at Trump-branded properties attended his first big outing amid the citys social and philanthropic crowd, the annual gala raising money for Fords Theatre, the historic venue where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

Trump and his wife, Melania, hosted a warm-up reception before a show at the downtown theater, which marked the return of a tradition that dates back to the Carter administration. (The President and Mrs. Trump request the pleasure of your attendance read the invite to the late-afternoon event). Typically, the president hosts the black-tie gathering, which draws a crowd heavy on CEOs, lawmakers and the citys professional-partying class. So important is the exclusive mingle for donors at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., that when the Obamas werent available for last years shindig, the theater canceled the whole evening.

[No POTUS, no party: Fords Theatre cancels annual gala after White House says too busy]

I am proud to continue the tradition in honor of such a historic and cherished landmark, Melania Trump said in a statement.

The first couple she in a drapey champagne-colored Monique Lhuillier gown; he in a tux then attended a performance at the theater, in what was their first foray into the wilds of social Washington. At the gala, the president made remarks about the terrorist attack in London in which seven people were killed. Of the theater, he sounded a rare bipartisan note. Its a place where Americans of all backgrounds, from all parts, all over the world, from both parties can you believe that, from both parties; this may be one of the few times we unite; but well get there, you watch can come together and enjoy the arts in unity and in peace, Trump told the well-heeled crowd that included Vice President Mike Pence and Karen Pence, Sens.Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Though they have entertained at the White House and Mar-a-Lago, Trump has skipped the handful of premiere events that a president typically attends at least a few times during their tenure, notes Washington Life Senior EditorKevin Chaffee, a longtime observer of the citys galas-and-cocktails circuit. First, he snubbed the annual dinner put on by the Alfalfa Club, a group made up of corporate execs, military brass and senior pols. And another nope RSVP went out to the Gridiron Club, an elite group of Washington journalists and he famously turned down the White House Correspondents Dinner in April, something no president had done since Ronald Reagan (who only declined because hed been shot).

Trumps decision to attend the Fords gala was seen as a sign that perhaps the unpredictable commander-in-chief is prepared to engage in at least some of the social rites of the swamp he routinely derides.

This should certainly give hope to the folks at the Kennedy Center that he and the first lady will attend the honors gala in December, Chaffee says, mentioning another event at which the presidents attendance is a long-standing tradition.

So why this gala? Well, its not put on by the FAKE NEWS media, for one. And Trump has long expressed an affinity for Lincoln. Who could forget his praise of the Great Emancipator: Great president, Trump said at a GOP fundraising dinner in March. Most people dont even know he was a Republican, right? Well, the members of the folks who like to call themselves the party of Lincoln probably did.

He even once tweeted about the theater itself (theres a Trump tweet for everything, it seems), wondering why the 2012 biopic Lincoln didnt film there.

Perhaps, mused one longtime attendee, the often-contrarian president wanted to indicate another break with the Obamas, whose decision not to host last year was seen by some as a slight. Whatever the reason, the attendee was glad to see a glimmer of engagement: At least hes supporting the arts.

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Donald Trump makes Ford's Theatre gala his first Washington social outing - Washington Post

As Londons police and counterterrorism forces responded to news of a deadly attack at London Bridge and Borough Market, President Donald Trump turned to Twitter.CreditPHOTOGRAPH BY CARL COURT / GETTY

In the hours after the London terrorist attack, President Trump took to his favored platform, Twitter, to deliver a stream-of-consciousness response. He repeated his call for a travel ban on visitors from six predominantly Muslim countries. And he warned against political correctness. If we dont get smart it will only get worse, he said. Do you notice we are not having a gun debate right now? he added, in a puzzling non sequitur. Thats because they used knives and a truck.

For critics of Trump, his tweets betray a buffoonish approach to national security that will only make terrorism worse. His proposed travel restrictions will only aid recruitment for the Islamic State, they say. His demand, during a speech in Saudi Arabia, two weeks ago, for Muslim heads of state to do more ignores the reality that, since the September 11th attacks, vastly more Iraqi and Afghan soldiers and policethan American service members have died battling extremists. And Trumps loosening of Pentagon rules surrounding the use of air strikes and commando raids against the Islamic State, Al Qaeda, and other terrorist groups will only lead to more civilian deaths, fuelling resentment and reprisals.

Yet several counterterrorism experts, including some who worked under President Obama, admitted to me, in private conversations recently, that new approaches to combat extremism are badly needed, and that Trump has a chance to take steps that could prove effective. The problem is that, just as in other policy areas, Trump threatens to undermine his own counterterrorism strategy with his bellicose mode of communication. His rhetoric belies a fundamental lack of understanding of the greater nuances of the issue, and in particular the root causes that have allowed ISIS to prey on the vulnerable and disaffected in our communities, a former senior counterterrorism official told me on Sunday. His immediate call for a ban on Muslims in the wake of the most recent attack and throughout his short time as President is arguably more likely to alienate Muslim Americans, and thus potentially inspire further acts of homegrown terrorism, than it is to prevent terrorists from entering the country and perpetrating terrorist acts.

Several former officials said that they generally supported Trumps cruise-missile strike on a Syrian airbase, in April, after U.S. intelligence officials said Syrian government forces carried out a chemical-weapons attack that killed scores of people, including children. The counterterrorism experts told me that the strikes showed American allies and adversaries alike that Trump would be more willing to use force than Obama, who critics said lost credibility when he failed to respond militarily to a 2013 chemical-weapons attack by the Syrian government that killed hundreds.

Trump also appears to be continuing to emphasize a core element of Obamas strategy, that countries in the region should lead the fight. The Trump Administrations recent hundred-and-ten-billion-dollar arms sale to Saudi Arabia is similar to one carried out under the Obama Administration, which worked to build up the military, intelligence, and police capabilities of allies in the region in a much less public way than Trump has thus far. Obama also embraced the use of covert drone strikes, intense vetting of visa applicants, and the stepped-up use of surveillance technologies, angering many on the left.

Trump has opportunities to make progress in areas where Obama struggled, such as developing consensus regarding new communications technologies, the officials said. Terrorists are increasingly using sophisticated encryption techniques to mask their communications, but Obama Administration officials were unable to reach an agreement with technology companies on ways to curb such uses that balanced privacy and public-safety concerns. Now Trump or his aides could try to quietly fashion some type of compromise.

Trump has yet to unveil a comprehensive strategy from his Administration to fight terrorism. As Dexter Filkins recently wrote, ina Profile of Defense Secretary James Mattis, some officials fear that Trump will bluster about terrorism in public but privately delegate strategy to the military. Some U.S. military commanders welcomed an end to what they viewed as micromanagement and risk aversion by the Obama White House, but they fear that the inexperienced Trump will become overly reliant on military force.

But where Trump has been most dangerous, former counterterrorism officials told me, is in his public statements, and the way he has publicly harangued alliesfrom Muslim leaders to NATO membersoften while citing incorrect facts. Now, in the wake of three successful attacks in Britain in three months, the worry is that attacks will occur in the United States as well, and Trump will revert to a pattern of fearmongering. The President could convince Congress to enact new surveillance standards that erode civil liberties but fail to end attacks. Or Trump could publicly vilify Islam, a step that will alienate American Muslims and aid extremist recruiting efforts domestically and internationally. You end up with the legislation that is bad for everybody, the former senior counterterrorism official told me. Bad for counterterrorism and bad for civil liberties.

Counterterrorism is one area where Trump could take advantage of the bipartisan consensus that exists regarding some anti-terror policies, the officials whom I talked to said. But, if the Presidents inability to communicate with discipline, accuracy, and nuance continues, he will only alienate allies and inflame enemies.

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What Donald Trump Can Do to Help Stop Terrorism: Talk Less - The ... - The New Yorker