President Donald Trump began distancing himself from Sen. Luther Strange before ballots were even cast in Alabama’s GOP Senate primary, saying at a dinner on Monday night that the candidate he backed was likely to lose — and suggesting he'd done everything he could do given the circumstances.

Trump told conservative activists who visited the White House that he’d underestimated the political power of Roy Moore, the firebrand populist and former judge who defeated Strange on Tuesday with the backing of Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon, according to three people who were there.


Attendees said the president asked questions that suggested he harbored doubts about his endorsement.

“He went around the room and wanted to know what everyone thought,” said American Conservative Union head Matt Schlapp, who was among the attendees. The group told Trump they believed Moore would win.

“He was trying to figure out if there was going to be damage from this,” one attendee said.

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Trump’s anxiety was justified. Strange’s loss, in a race triggered by Trump’s selection of former Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions as his attorney general, sent a signal that the deep-red Republicans who voted him into the White House won’t necessarily follow his lead — a notion he hates, in part because it threatens to weaken his pull among members of his party ahead of next year's midterms.

The race was Trump’s first congressional defeat. It left the president, who cares about winning and being associated with winners, frustrated and sometimes visibly annoyed, according to four White House officials and people familiar with the president’s thinking.

Trump talked about the race frequently after returning from a rally he held for Strange in Alabama last Friday, one person close to him said, and seemed increasingly resigned to a loss. Several people close to the president said they expect him to blame the loss on others — particularly Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — and to embrace Moore heading into the December special election, where he'll face Democrat Doug Jones.

Trump tweeted Tuesday night: “Congratulations to Roy Moore on his Republican Primary win in Alabama. Luther Strange started way back & ran a good race. Roy, WIN in Nov!”

Trump convened meetings in the Oval Office and called pollsters, consultants and advisers on speakerphone to talk about the race. The president complained about Bannon’s aggressive moves on Moore’s behalf, as well as about the political advice he got from aides inside the White House, according to people who have spoken with him.

He told White House aides and advisers that his base supports Moore and that Strange didn’t have a lot of energy or charisma when he was campaigning or on television.

Trump complained before and after sending tweets about “Big Luther” and grumbled that he will be associated with a loss in Alabama — a state where “they love me,” as one White House official described the president’s comments.

A White House spokeswoman didn’t respond to a request for comment before the race was called.

One White House official said the administration is already preparing talking points to distance the president from the loss.

But some Trump aides say the endorsement of Strange, who had the backing of McConnell and the Republican establishment, was the right thing to do — even if Strange failed to make it past the runoff.

“He feels that Sen. Strange has been a reliable vote for the Trump agenda and has asked for very little in return,” said presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway. “It sends a very strong message to sitting Republican senators that this president will be there for you.”

Trump was encouraged to pick Strange before the August primary by son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner as well as other aides, White House officials said. He was never going to endorse Alabama Republican Rep. Mo Brooks, who has at times opposed Trump’s agenda, and knew little about Moore, officials said.

“He seemed like he didn’t know the state of play and what was going on,” said one person who discussed the race with Trump last week. “I don’t think he has been given good advice.”

“He didn’t know exactly where the numbers stood or what was happening on the ground,” this person added.

Sometimes, the president would show intense interest in the race before appearing to forget about it for several days, advisers said. With Strange dragging in the polls and some of Trump’s backers going with Moore, the president waffled on participating in a public rally for several weeks, these advisers said.

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The president agreed to go to Alabama after Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker and Ward Baker, a political strategist close to Corker, told Trump two weeks ago he needed to go there. But he told advisers and aides later that he didn’t want to go to Alabama — and wound up giving a speech marked by inflammatory comments about NFL players who have silently protested police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem.

Trump also praised Strange onstage, but his monologue at times made clear private concerns he’d expressed to his staff, White House officials said. “I might have made a mistake,” Trump told the crowd.

“He essentially thinks, ‘What have I gotten myself into?’” one adviser said.

Bannon’s aggressive moves and television appearances in the race on Moore’s behalf, along with his appearance at a rally backing Moore on Monday, especially upset Trump, who was also annoyed that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and his former White House aide Sebastian Gorka rallied for Moore.

Just how much the Strange loss will damage Trump remains unclear. Other presidents have endorsed losers in political primaries — for example, President Barack Obama unsuccessfully endorsed Hawaii’s Neil Abercrombie and Pennsylvania’s Arlen Specter in primaries.

“It might just be a one-day dent with the news cycles these days,” said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice University. “You have Puerto Rico, North Korea, everything else going on. I don’t think it makes a huge impact.”

