The president is now employing that tool sooner than he might have expected, but precisely as he predicted. Trump’s order last week sparked chaos and mass protests in Washington and at airports around the nation. Many of those protesting most fervently may have never supported Trump in the first place, but the problems with the order have rattled Republicans, too, whether in Washington or at the grassroots level. In Gallup’s daily tracking poll, Trump’s approval/disapproval numbers—which had been hovering around even—suddenly dived underwater, with 51 percent disapproving.

A trickle of Republican members of Congress have criticized the order, many finding objectionable elements even when they support the broad strokes. Christian leaders, including evangelicals, have also reacted against the law. The National Association of Evangelicals called for the reversal of the order, as did a group of leaders of Christian organizations. The outcry is not unanimous—Franklin Graham, who has long characterized Islam as a “religion of hatred” and was a vocal supporter of Trump, has been supportive of the order. But there is, at the very least, unease about Trump’s moves, despite his telling David Brody of the evangelical outlet CBN that persecuted Christians will receive priority status as refugees.

With political pressure increasing on him, Trump announced an announcement for the Supreme Court on Twitter Monday morning:

I have made my decision on who I will nominate for The United States Supreme Court. It will be announced live on Tuesday at 8:00 P.M. (W.H.) — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017

That’s an accelerated announcement: Last week, he announced, also on Twitter, that he would announce his pick of a justice on Thursday. With political pressure on, however, he’s decided to move the pick up 48 hours or so.

There has been no shortage of speculation on Trump’s public-relations strategy. Each new move, tweet, or appointment is hailed by some commentators as a feint to distract voters from the real issue, which is generally whatever that commentator cares about most. It’s an open question how true that is. When Trump was at his low points during the presidential campaign, he was similarly chaotic in his approach, sometimes undermining his own messaging efforts.

But it’s indisputable that Trump has benefited from his firehose approach. He weathered a series of scandals and missteps during the campaign that would have sunk any other presidential candidate, seemingly in part because the ceaseless march of stunning stories meant that none truly sank in. Trump has also scheduled the announcement of his selection for prime time, a break from the standard day-time announcements presidents have recently favored, which encourages the impression that he’s trying to change the subject away from immigration.