Trump hunkering down in White House residence bunker as impeachment hearings overwhelm administration

According to a report at Politico, Donald Trump is avoiding the Oval Office where work is normally conducted, and is staying within the friendly confines of his White House residence which is serving as his bunker as he battles impeachment.

As the Democrats in the House hold impeachment hearings which are being nationally televised, Trump staying at "home" allows him to avoid staffers and monitor the proceedings while calling up friends and supporters for advice or to complain.

"President Donald Trump is increasingly morphing the White House residence into a second Oval. It’s become the place where Trump feels most productive, where he avoids meddling by his staff and where he speed-dials his network of confidantes, GOP lawmakers and TV pundits," the report states adding that the White House residence was where the president also made his infamous Ukraine phonecall that led to the impeachment proceedings.

"Maintaining a sanctuary to work and think has taken on greater importance for the president as he increasingly feels under siege by the Democratic impeachment inquiry," Politico reports. "Frustrated by the whistleblower complaint and a parade of administration officials testifying on Capitol Hill, Trump is as wary as ever of the staffers around him and distrustful of the traditional White House infrastructure. Working from his private quarters gives him space away from what he perceives as prying eyes and guards against his omnipresent fear of leaks to the media."

According to one White House official, "He works more in the residence because he is not constrained there by staffers knocking on the door.”

The report goes on to note that the president is considered a "homebody" by some White House staffers and prefers to only appear in places where he feels he has total control -- including his own properties.

"On the rare occasion where Trump does venture out in Washington, he dines at his hotel or attends a fundraiser," the report states. "He recently went to a rare Nationals baseball postseason game with a slew of Republican lawmakers. But most days and nights, if Trump is not on the campaign trail or a foreign trip, he happily stays inside his White House bubble and the residence — working late into the night and very early in the morning."

"For Trump, moving to Washington has meant re-calibrating his New York routine, where he also lived and worked in the same Trump Tower building," the report continues. "Now he tends to go to the Oval Office and adjacent private dining room for five to six hours a day for formal meetings, lunches and ceremonial events, current and former administration officials say. But the bulk of his work in the mornings, late afternoons, evenings and weekends happens in his private quarters where Trump can call staff and advisers as early as 6 a.m. and up to midnight."

As might be expected, Trump's safe place is also where he watches his favorite cable chows and fires off tweets uninterrupted, with Politico noting, "The residence serves like a bunker for his impeachment response and his real-time reaction to testimony, witnesses and public hearings."

Although the White House refused to comment on the president's work habits, one aide defended the president stating, "Trump’s heavy use of the residence was 'not an attempt on the president’s part to hide things. He is a workaholic, so he wakes up early and works out of the residence. It’s just the way his internal work clock has been for decades.'"

You can read more here.