Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump has become increasingly rattled over the potential of an economic downturn and is spinning to find victories to sell to voters.

He and his economic team, who are often at odds with one another, have been searching for ways to prevent market anxieties from spilling over into next year's presidential election, but have yet to agree on a solution. They have wavered between floating tax cuts to insisting they aren't considering tax cuts. They have feuded privately over which direction to take. They have contradicted each other publicly.

And Trump has insisted it's the Federal Reserve's fault, while his own aides have admitted much of it is because of his trade war with China. Trump refuses to give up on the tactic, saying it would make him look weak.

He's said similarly about the wall -- that his supporters will think he's weak if he doesn't get it built soon.

Still, Trump flashed signs of optimism this week that the trade war could be resolved, saying he's received calls from Chinese officials saying they wanted to restart talks. Though Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin insisted there had been "communication," aides privately conceded the phone calls Trump described didn't happen they way he said they did.

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