But insiders say they see a president grappling with a slew of setbacks using a familiar tactic.

“It feels like the first term when the president was under attack from all sides and went on defense for stretches of time,” said one veteran of that administration.

The president was last seen during a Cabinet meeting a week ago. That came a day after another checkup with doctors at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and a rash of questions about the 79-year-old’s health.

Since then, his days have been filled with private meetings, more executive time, and a weekend of golf. The result is an inevitable slew of headlines and social media posts wondering what’s going on.

It marks a break from the freewheeling style of the past 18 months in power, when every appearance in the Oval Office was turned into a press conference. And it coincides with a week of reversals for a president who steamrollered through the first part of his second presidency.

This week, Trump’s administration all but abandoned its plan to dish out $1.8 billion in taxpayers’ money to political allies via an “anti-weaponization” fund. Republicans threatened to derail a critical immigration bill if the idea wasn’t ditched.

Over the weekend, White House-backed plans for concerts to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence collapsed when eight out of nine artists said they would not be appearing. Trump threatened to cancel the whole thing and slammed “overpriced singers, who nobody wants to hear.”

Last week, a judge ordered that the Trump name be taken down from the Kennedy Center and issued an injunction to prevent its closure in July for renovations. Trump fumed that there had never been a “President of the United States who has been treated so unfairly by the Courts.”

And then there is Iran, which has settled into a familiar pattern of American officials briefing tame journalists that a deal is nearing, while nothing ever appears to change in the Middle Eastern stalemate.

Add in Benjamin Netanyahu, the hardline Israeli prime minister, who seems intent on continuing to take the war to Lebanon despite Trump’s demands that he pull back, and a trend emerges.

The president’s focus on consolidating power in his own hands delivered rapid short-term wins, but may now be earning him pushback from his own party and limiting his influence around the world.

So is the president sulking or trying a different tack?

“It is not a bad time to sit back and take stock,” said a former administration official, “and be a bit more selective about when to speak and when not to speak.”

Huawei thanks Biden for boosting Chinese chip industry

Did anyone else notice this remarkable statement by Xu Zhijun, the current rotating chairman of Chinese tech giant Huawei? 

“If the United States hadn’t forced our country, our companies, and our industry, we wouldn’t have done something like this. But we are also grateful to the U.S. for enabling our country’s semiconductor industry chain to truly grow.”

When the Biden administration imposed semiconductor export controls in October 2022, the aim was to slow China’s chip industry by starving it of the latest technology. Instead, Huawei’s leadership says those restrictions helped accelerate it.

The numbers back the claims.

Huawei’s chip sales have jumped at least 60% in the past year, as Chinese companies seek domestic alternatives to American ones. And the government in Beijing has poured in grants.

For example, it received more than $1 billion in government grants in 2023, more than quadruple the amount it received in 2019. At the same time, Beijing sent more government contracts its way, as it ramped up support for domestic tech champions.

This should all provide food for thought as the House Armed Services Committee begins marking up the National Defense Authorization Act on Thursday. This is where lawmakers try to attach semiconductor regulations.

Is it time for a different approach?

He’s not running

The list of top administration officials covering for Karoline Leavitt while she is on maternity leave feels like an early look at the 2028 Republican primary. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are clear frontrunners. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent could be a dark horse.

And then comes Mehmet Oz, the head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, who appeared on the podium on Tuesday afternoon. He stuck closely to his day job, answering questions on efforts to lower prescription drug prices, tackling health care fraud, and stemming the spread of Ebola overseas.

Any other kind of question brought this kind of answer: “Ma’am, you’re asking me a question that’s out of my lane.”

It means only one thing. We can gently remove Dr. Oz from any list of potential candidates for 2028.

Lunchtime reading

Iran’s new grand strategy: A brilliant analysis of the changes in Iran, its leadership, and its view of the world in the past year, as a new generation takes power and seeks to lock in gains. “Increasingly, the Islamic Republic looks less like a theocracy and more like a right-wing nationalist authoritarian state. Islamic ideology persists, but it is subordinated to the imperative of national cohesion. The test of political fealty is no longer ‘Are you Islamic enough?’ but ‘Are you Iranian enough?'”

“What Conservatives Believe” Review: Mike Pence’s Way: The former vice president sees little conservatism in President Trump’s second term and is determined to bring it back.

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