Washington (CNN) For the second consecutive week, President Donald Trump is trampling his White House's attempts at a messaging strategy aimed at drawing attention away from the controversies storming over the White House.

And his allies aren't helping, either.

The White House on Monday kicked off "workforce development week" with Attorney General Jeff Sessions agreeing to testify publicly before a Senate panel. By the end of the day, a longtime friend of the President said Trump was mulling firing Robert Mueller, the special counsel appointed to oversee the investigation into alleged ties between Trump's campaign associates and Russian officials.

Tuesday morning, from 6:30 a.m. ET until nearly 9 a.m., the President issued four statements via Twitter to decry the "Fake News Media," the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that once again struck down his travel ban and the former Attorney General Loretta Lynch's "protection" of his former Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

Well, as predicted, the 9th Circuit did it again - Ruled against the TRAVEL BAN at such a dangerous time in the history of our country. S.C.

It wasn't until 9:29 a.m. that Trump got back on message, tweeting about his afternoon Wisconsin trip "to talk about JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!"

Heading to the Great State of Wisconsin to talk about JOBS, JOBS, JOBS! Big progress being made as the Real News is reporting.

But by then, Trump had offered several story lines leading away from the White House's messaging, drawing attention back to the controversies that have dogged their policy efforts.

Self-sabotage

The self-sabotage is all too familiar in the Trump White House, where Trump -- ultimately his administration's chief messenger -- has blown up successive White House communications strategies, sometimes by directly contradicting his own spokespeople.

As fired FBI Director James Comey prepared to testify last week before Congress following a steady stream of allegations about the President's conduct, the White House tried to put its focus elsewhere: infrastructure week.

Even before Comey's testimony later in the week took the spotlight off the infrastructure plans, Trump tweeted about the travel ban his administration has been fighting to reinstate and continued an offensive against London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

Two days later, as White House officials struggled to return the focus to infrastructure week, Trump -- seemingly out of the blue -- tweeted that he had landed on a pick for FBI director, sending his White House scrambling. It would be hours before the White House put out an official press release on the matter.

By the end of the week -- without even counting Comey's testimony -- Trump had drawn attention to several storylines that had nothing to do with the administration's infrastructure proposals.

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'Workforce development week'

The White House staff pressed forward again, billing this week as "workforce development week," hoping to once again use the power of the bully pulpit to draw attention to the administration's policy agenda.

"We can't turn off the Russia noise, but we need to do a better job filling the atmosphere with an alternative," a Republican involved in White House strategy said as the week began.

The White House also hoped to "keep President Trump busy" with projects and travel, including a trip to Wisconsin with his daughter, Ivanka, an administration official said.

Officials hoped that Ivanka Trump's involvement would make it less likely Trump would undermine the messaging of the week.

That hope was gone by Tuesday amid the slew of fresh distractions provided by the President's allies and, on Twitter, by the President himself.

"In theory, this shouldn't be hard. Your prime directive is to stay out of your own way. Politicians get in their own way with some frequency, but not in a daily or hourly fashion in the way we've seen from this White House," said Doug Heye, who served as communications chief for former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and is now a CNN political commentator.

That has complicated the White House's task of proving to the public that it can focus on the issues that matter even as controversies swirl.

Photos: Donald Trump's rise President-elect Donald Trump has been in the spotlight for years. From developing real estate and producing and starring in TV shows, he became a celebrity long before winning the White House. Hide Caption 1 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump at age 4. He was born in 1946 to Fred and Mary Trump in New York City. His father was a real estate developer. Hide Caption 2 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump, left, in a family photo. He was the second-youngest of five children. Hide Caption 3 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump, center, stands at attention during his senior year at the New York Military Academy in 1964. Hide Caption 4 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump, center, wears a baseball uniform at the New York Military Academy in 1964. After he graduated from the boarding school, he went to college. He started at Fordham University before transferring and later graduating from the Wharton School, the University of Pennsylvania's business school. Hide Caption 5 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump stands with Alfred Eisenpreis, New York's economic development administrator, in 1976 while they look at a sketch of a new 1,400-room renovation project of the Commodore Hotel. After graduating college in 1968, Trump worked with his father on developments in Queens and Brooklyn before purchasing or building multiple properties in New York and Atlantic City, New Jersey. Those properties included Trump Tower in New York and Trump Plaza and multiple casinos in Atlantic City. Hide Caption 6 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump attends an event to mark the start of construction of the New York Convention Center in 1979. Hide Caption 7 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump wears a hard hat at the Trump Tower construction site in New York in 1980. Hide Caption 8 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump was married to Ivana Zelnicek Trump from 1977 to 1990, when they divorced. They had three children together: Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric. Hide Caption 9 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise The Trump family, circa 1986. Hide Caption 10 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump uses his personal helicopter to get around New York in 1987. Hide Caption 11 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump stands in the atrium of the Trump Tower. Hide Caption 12 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump attends the opening of his new Atlantic City casino, the Taj Mahal, in 1989. Hide Caption 13 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump signs his second book, "Trump: Surviving at the Top," in 1990. Trump has published at least 16 other books, including "The Art of the Deal" and "The America We Deserve." Hide Caption 14 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump and singer Michael Jackson pose for a photo before traveling to visit Ryan White, a young child with AIDS, in 1990. Hide Caption 15 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump dips his second wife, Marla Maples, after the couple married in a private ceremony in New York in December 1993. The couple divorced in 1999 and had one daughter together, Tiffany. Hide Caption 16 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump putts a golf ball in his New York office in 1998. Hide Caption 17 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise An advertisement for the television show "The Apprentice" hangs at Trump Tower in 2004. The show launched in January of that year. In January 2008, the show returned as "Celebrity Apprentice." Hide Caption 18 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise A 12-inch talking Trump doll is on display at a toy store in New York in September 2004. Hide Caption 19 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump attends a news conference in 2005 that announced the establishment of Trump University. From 2005 until it closed in 2010, Trump University had about 10,000 people sign up for a program that promised success in real estate. Three separate lawsuits -- two class-action suits filed in California and one filed by New York's attorney general -- argued that the program was mired in fraud and deception. Trump's camp rejected the suits' claims as "baseless." And Trump has charged that the New York case against him is politically motivated. Hide Caption 20 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump attends the U.S. Open tennis tournament with his third wife, Melania Knauss-Trump, and their son, Barron, in 2006. Trump and Knauss married in 2005. Hide Caption 21 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump wrestles with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin at WrestleMania in 2007. Trump has close ties with the WWE and its CEO, Vince McMahon. Hide Caption 22 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise For "The Apprentice," Trump was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in January 2007. Hide Caption 23 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump appears on the set of "The Celebrity Apprentice" with two of his children -- Donald Jr. and Ivanka -- in 2009. Hide Caption 24 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump poses with Miss Universe contestants in 2011. Trump had been executive producer of the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants since 1996. Hide Caption 25 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise In 2012, Trump announces his endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Hide Caption 26 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump speaks in Sarasota, Florida, after accepting the Statesman of the Year Award at the Sarasota GOP dinner in August 2012. It was shortly before the Republican National Convention in nearby Tampa. Hide Caption 27 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump appears on stage with singer Nick Jonas and television personality Giuliana Rancic during the 2013 Miss USA pageant. Hide Caption 28 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise In June 2015, during a speech from Trump Tower, Trump announced that he was running for President. He said he would give up "The Apprentice" to run. Hide Caption 29 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump -- flanked by U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio, left, and Ted Cruz -- speaks during a CNN debate in Miami on March 10. Trump dominated the GOP primaries and emerged as the presumptive nominee in May. Hide Caption 30 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise The Trump family poses for a photo in New York in April. Hide Caption 31 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump speaks during a campaign event in Evansville, Indiana, on April 28. After Trump won the Indiana primary, his last two competitors dropped out of the GOP race. Hide Caption 32 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump delivers a speech at the Republican National Convention in July, accepting the party's nomination for President. "I have had a truly great life in business," he said. "But now, my sole and exclusive mission is to go to work for our country -- to go to work for you. It's time to deliver a victory for the American people." Hide Caption 33 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump faces Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the first presidential debate, which took place in Hempstead, New York, in September. Hide Caption 34 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump apologizes in a video, posted to his Twitter account in October, for vulgar and sexually aggressive remarks he made a decade ago regarding women. "I said it, I was wrong and I apologize," Trump said, referring to lewd comments he made during a previously unaired taping of "Access Hollywood." Multiple Republican leaders rescinded their endorsements of Trump after the footage was released. Hide Caption 35 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump walks on stage with his family after he was declared the election winner on November 9. "Ours was not a campaign, but rather, an incredible and great movement," he told his supporters in New York. Hide Caption 36 of 37 Photos: Donald Trump's rise Trump is joined by his family as he is sworn in as President on January 20. Hide Caption 37 of 37

Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist who helped shepherd Justice Neil Gorsuch through Senate confirmation, said it's key that the White House continues to focus on promoting its agenda despite the distractions, even those of the President's own making. The messaging may not break through the national news cycle, but it could still help the White House earn positive local coverage.

"It's very difficult to get the media to focus on your issues when there's so much turbulence happening, but you have to do it," Bonjean said.

But if the task is "walking and chewing gum at the same time," Heye said it's been complicated by Trump.

"It's more like trying to steer a car while holding off with one hand someone in the passenger seat who will grab at the wheel at every opportunity they get," Heye said.

Republican strategists working outside the White House frequently bemoan the tall task of White House communications officials and several have refused to consider what would normally be a coveted position inside the White House because Trump so consistently undermines his own communications shop.

"It's mission impossible," one Republican strategist close to the White House said of the press shop's job.