He tried to pull a similar trick this time around when he said that his disinfectant remarks were a "sarcastic" prank on the press - a transparent attempt at retro-fitting that few took seriously. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Trump cut the next day's briefing off after just 22 minutes, refusing to take any questions. There was no briefing on Saturday or Sunday local time. Instead of fronting up to the White House briefing room, Trump spent the day sulking on Twitter. He declared himself the "hardest working President in history", demanded journalists return their "Noble [sic] prizes" and accused Fox News of promoting Democratic Party talking points. "What is the purpose of having White House News Conferences when the Lamestream Media asks nothing but hostile questions, & then refuses to report the truth or facts accurately," Trump said on Twitter. "They get record ratings, & the American people get nothing but Fake News. Not worth the time & effort!"

Trump's sudden silence speaks volumes. He has conceded - in his actions, if not his words - that the lengthy daily briefings were doing him more harm than good. Loading In times of crisis, citizens usually rally behind their political leaders, giving them more leeway than usual to make mistakes and change their mind. But Trump has not received the popularity boost from the pandemic that almost all elected officials have received - both in the US and abroad - despite his dominance of the daily news cycle. After a modest initial bump, Trump's approval ratings have fallen back to where they were before the outbreak began: the low 40 per cent range.

Compare that to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, whose approval ratings shot up from 44 per cent to 71 per cent in a month. That came despite the huge death toll in his state and questions about whether he was too slow to order non-essential businesses to close. Cuomo's ratings have surged, in large part, because of his direct, fact-based and empathetic communication style. Trump's briefings, by contrast, have been rambling and full of dubious claims. They have also stood out for the lack of time spent empathising with the 50,000-plus Americans who have died from the virus. A Washington Post analysis of the past three weeks' briefings found Trump spent just 4½ minutes expressing condolences for victims compared to two hours attacking his enemies and 45 minutes praising his administration. The coronavirus pandemic presented Trump with a golden opportunity to appear presidential, put partisanship aside and increase his appeal to the swing voters who will decide the November election.