Story highlights Donald Trump is angry that his allies have conceded he lost the first debate

Trump's campaign told surrogates to defend his performance on a Wednesday call

Washington (CNN) Donald Trump is angry that his aides and advisers have conceded to reporters -- largely without attribution -- that the Republican nominee struggled in his first presidential debate.

In a conference call with surrogates Wednesday afternoon, Trump aides made clear the Republican nominee is upset that his allies publicly acknowledged they pushed him to change his preparation and tactics before his next bout with Hillary Clinton. And he wants them to stop it immediately.

The message was "not subtle," a source familiar with the call said.

Trump wants his supporters to make an energetic defense of his performance and refuse to concede that he didn't nail it.

Trump's team told surrogates to say that Trump successfully reinforced his outsider status, contrasting him with Clinton as a status quo candidate, and to zero in on one-liners that they saw as successful -- particularly his repeated line that Clinton has been in public life nearly 30 years with little to show for it.

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