Behind the scenes Trump and his team had made limited preparations in the run-up to Friday, when Mueller finally delivered his much-anticipated report to Attorney General William P. Barr.

They had not coordinated an aggressive response machine, as President Bill Clinton’s aides did ahead of independent counsel Kenneth Starr’s 1998 report about Clinton’s relationship with White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky. Surrogates were not mobilized in advance. Talking points were not distributed. A report was prepared to counter Mueller’s findings — but there is internal debate about whether to release it.