Less than a month out from the election, President Trump is settling scores and serving up red meat to his base. He is projecting defiance of the pandemic that robbed him of the economic boom that once looked likely to propel him to a second term, declassifying material related to the Russia investigation that supporters feared would hound him from office, and breaking off negotiations with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on a new COVID-19 assistance package that might have juiced economic numbers before Election Day.

Instead, Trump is pressing forward with a Supreme Court nomination before the end of the year, a move that splits the public, according to a Washington Examiner/YouGov poll. But as another round of national and swing-state polls show the president trailing Democratic challenger Joe Biden, some are questioning the strategy behind boosting Trump’s appeal with voters who are already likely to be in his camp.