Trump 's Rough Week Vexes GOP

Republicans, worried about undecided U.S. voters, look to get campaign back on track
By Janet Hook
Donald Trump's presiden-tial campaign has been thrown off balance by a string of con-troversies—topped by revelations about his taxes this past weekend—that have been a
major distraction and left Republicans increasingly arutious that he is running out of time to make a closing argument to undecided voters.
With just five weeks left before Election Day and early voting already starting in some states, many Republicans believe Mr. Trump's setbacks—some self-inflicted—in the week since his first debate with Democratic rival Hillary Clinton have stolen momentum he seemed to be gaining.
"The tax revelations seem to cap off what has been a really horrendous week for the campaign," said GOP pollster
Neil Newhouse. "There is no question that Donald Trump has a very potent message of change that resonates with voters, but time is running out for him to really get voters to hear that over the other noise he's making in the campaign." The noise in recent days has been considerable. At the first debate. Mr. Trump appeared ill-prepared and was on the defensive for many of the eocchanges, including Mrs. Clin-tdn's accusation that decades
ago he had denigrated a Miss Universe for gaining weight.
That baited Mr. Trump into a dayslong squabble—including a predawn storm of Twitter messages—over the episode. He went off script at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday night where he raised unsubstanti-ated questions about Mrs. Clin-ton's loyalty to her husband and mocked her physical appearance when she had pneumonia.
Former House Speaker Newt
Gingrich, a Trump supporter, had two pieces of advice for Mr. Trump to get his campaign on track: Give up sending his own unedited Twitter messages and prepare more seriously for the second debate, in St. Louis next Sunday.
The president of the United States can't tweet at 3 a.m. randomly; it's a precondition of him being deemed prepared to be president," Mr. Gingrich said in an interview Sunday. And before the next debate, he added. Mr. Trump "has to come off the road, bring in outsiders he doesn't know and get professional, serious training."
Mr. Gingrich also said the Trump team needed to step up its attack on the New York Times for what he said was a "smear job" on the real-estate developer's taxes, referring to an article reporting that leaked 1995 tax forms showed he had reported $916 million in losses, which could allow him to escape taxes on income for as many as 18 years.
Trump spokesman Jason Miller said he believed the race remained deadlocked in most polls and said of Mr. Gingrich's suggestions: "You're always going to have a number of different recommendations
from friends and allies.
"Over the final five-plus weeks of this race. Mr. Trump knows exactly what needs to be done to secure victory: communicate his vision on re-igniting our economy and keeping America safe," he said.
Democrats used the tax report as ammunition to intensify their demands that he release his tax returns—aii issue that Trump critics have harped on but, according to the latest Wall Street Journal/ NBC News poll, isn't a top priority for most voters.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) on Sunday called Mr. Trump "a bil-lion-dollar loser who won't release his taxes because they'll expose him as a spoiled, rich brat who lost the millions he inherited from his father."
"Despite losing a billion dollars, Trump wants to reward himself with more tax breaks on inherited wealth while stiffing middle-class families who earn their pay-checks with hard work," Mr. Reid said. "Trump is overlev-eraged and deeply indebted to someone, but until he releases his taxes we won't know who."
Many Republicans said they didn't think the tax revelations were in themselves damaging because his tax strategy was legal and that it wasn't likely to sway opinion about him. But Republicans expressed eager-
ness for Mr. Trump to get back on message at a time when every day of campaigning counts.
The next big chance for the Trump campaign to get back on message or change the dynamic is in Tuesday's debate between the two vice-presiden-tial candidates—GOP Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine—and the next Clinton-Trump debate.
"His campaign is in free-fall right now, and he needs a big moment to turn things around," said Ryan Williams, a GOP political consultant who worked on the 2012 Mitt Romney campaign. "It puts more pressure on Trump to
have a commanding performance in the next debate." Mr. Williams added, "Every we day we talk about Donald Trump's taxes is a day we are not talking about the Clinton email scandal or her lack of trustworthiness."
Indeed, Trump surrogates on Sunday responded to the report about his tax returns. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican and close adviser to Mr. Trump, said the
tax documents show Mr. Trump is a smart businessman—and what an "absolute mess" the tax code is.
"That's why Donald Trump is the person best positioned to fix it," Mr. Christie said on "Fox News Sunday."
Mr. Christie called the tax story a good one for Mr. Trump because it shows how he used his business acumen to survive such a difficult period.
"He fought back and clawed back to create tens of thousands more jobs," he said.
Mr. Trump's understanding of the tax code will help reform it. Mr. Christie argued. "There's no one better to change these laws than someone who's been audited year after year."
Other Republicans say it is impossible to predict the impact of the latest controversies.
Steve Munisteri, an adviser to the Republican National Committee, said political observers are as hobbled as people watching a 3-D movie without the required glasses.
"You get confused; you're looking at it through the wrong lens," said Mr. Munisteri. "Conventional wisdom as to what attracts voters, what repels voters, what will hurt and what will help has not turned out to be correct for almost a year." —Thomas Af. Burton and
Devlin Barrett contributed to this article.