Red-faced Trump and staff rethink tactics, communication strategies

Washington

PRESIDENT Donald Trump loves to set the day's narrative at dawn, but the deeper story of his White House is best told at night.

Aides confer in the dark because they cannot figure out how to operate the light switches in the Cabinet room. Visitors conclude their meetings and then wander around, testing doorknobs until finding one that leads to an exit. In a darkened, mostly empty West Wing, Mr Trump's provocative chief strategist Stephen Bannon finishes another 16-hour day planning new lines of attack.

Usually around 6.30pm, or sometimes later, Mr Trump retires upstairs to the residence to recharge, vent and intermittently use Twitter. With his wife M…