Meanwhile, Trump seems to be everywhere. Starting in late July 2016, Trump—until then the most press-accessible candidate in recent history—pulled back dramatically from the media, putting a stop to press conferences, and largely ceased giving interviews to all but assuredly friendly questioners. For the most part, he continued that approach even into the presidency, although he occasionally betrayed his continued interest in the mainstream press—as when, upon the collapse of the GOP health-care plan, he immediately called Robert Costa of The Washington Post and Maggie Haberman of The New York Times.

Recently, however, Trump is everywhere. He’s given interviews to (among others) the Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Politico, CBS News, and Salena Zito (in both print and on the radio). The contents of the interviews has been campaign-vintage Trump, with the president improvising on the spot and refusing to offer specifics. Several of the exchanges have been rough: Trump abruptly cut off a discussion with CBS’s John Dickerson when Dickerson challenged his wholly unsubstantiated claims that Barack Obama “wiretapped” him, and in a discussion of the current Republican health-care plan, Trump seemed unaware of what the legislation would do.

The shift came as Trump neared his 100 day mark and, it seems, realized that he had almost nothing to show for his first three months on the job, with the notable exception of a confirmed Supreme Court justice. No matter what Trump says, the tally is clear enough, and he himself set the bar for success back in October.

It’s unsurprising that Trump would wish to return to the campaign—not yet constrained by office, he was free to say and do more or less as he chose, and it culminated in the great moment of his life: his election as president of the United States. Things haven’t gotten quite so well since. His approval rating has tanked, he has spoken frankly in interviews about how unexpectedly hard the job turns out to be, and how little has has to show for it.

Trump’s problem is that he faces a vicious cycle: The more his presidency feels stalled, the more he reverts to his campaign mode. And the more he reverts to campaign mode, the less influence and attention he seems able to garner.

Reviews for Trump’s Saturday speech were not great. “This was the most divisive speech I have ever heard from a sitting American president,” said David Gergen. “Others may disagree about that. He played to his base and he treated his other listeners, the rest of the people who have been disturbed about him or opposed him, he treated them basically as, ‘I don't give a damn what you think because you're frankly like the enemy.’ I thought it was a deeply disturbing speech.” That’s notable condemnation, especially from a man who, as a speechwriter to Richard Nixon, attended “attack meetings” in the White House.