By any objective measure, Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus crisis has been a failure. After hamstringing the government’s ability to respond to pandemics like the one we’re now facing, he ignored warnings for months, failed to take timely, adequate action beyond cutting off travel from China, and offered empty assurances to the American people that the situation was totally under control. Only after the virus dramatically upended American life has he taken any action at all, and even then it’s been woefully inadequate: states and hospitals remain in dire need of resources; his leadership has amounted to attacking the press, brushing off responsibility, and casually mocking a 73-year-old senator in quarantine; and he is now poised to undo whatever limited progress his administration has made by pledging to restart the nation’s economy before the coronavirus even hits its peak in the United States.

And so, with an election on the horizon, the president and his allies are attempting to craft a new narrative—that he has taken the threat seriously since day one; that he has taken decisive, effective action; and that anyone who tells you otherwise is “fake news.” “They want to try to control that narrative as much as possible,” a Republican who speaks with Trump regularly told Politico Tuesday. “It’s irresponsible to do anything else.” Rather than actually do the uphill work of meeting a public health emergency head on, Trump and his allies seem to be shifting gears to create a new reality in which they already have—even as experts warn that the worst is yet to come, particularly without drastic government intervention. “We’re doing tremendous work,” Trump said in a video on Monday.

For now, the messaging seems to be working. Last week, an ABC News/Ipsos survey found that 55% of Americans approved of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus crisis, up 12 percent from the previous week—even as the number of confirmed cases mounted and the death toll in the U.S. multiplied. In a new poll Monday, 61% of respondents said they believe Trump is taking strong enough action to curb the spread of the virus.

How long that bump might last is another story. As cases in the U.S. increase exponentially, the country is on a steeper trajectory than just about any other. At some point, even Trump’s most devout supporters will likely be personally impacted.

The already-grave situation will assuredly get worse if Trump reopens the economy before public health experts give the go-ahead, as he indicated in recent days he plans to do. “Our country wasn’t built to be shut down,” he said in a press briefing Monday. “America will, again, and soon, be open for business.” His spin might be gaining traction with voters right now, and his promises to return to normal quickly might sound good to his supporters reeling from sudden, dramatic changes to daily life. But if and when the crisis gets worse, reality will catch up to a president who has spent his whole life bluffing his way from one catastrophe to the next.

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