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WASHINGTON — The coronavirus pandemic is forcing President Donald Trump to show empathy to console Americans under siege, and it’s not easy for a brash leader more accustomed to bellicose politics.

Trump, who initially dismissed the pandemic as “under control,” is having to adjust his messaging to fit grim times, and some of his allies are pushing him to show more heart.

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“It’s not usually his first go-to emotion,” said a former senior administration official who remains close to the White House.

Two sources familiar with the internal dynamics of the White House said advisers twice intervened during the last week to nudge Trump to drop the strident language that is a hallmark of his presidency and instead seek to unite Americans.

It is rare for Trump to back down from a public statement but he softened his tone on both occasions after being urged to.

In the first instance, Trump had a testy exchange with a journalist who asked what he had to say to Americans who were scared by the virus, calling him a “terrible reporter” who had posed a “very nasty question.”