White House aides feed Trump 'delusional' higher poll numbers to keep him happy: report

According to a report at Politico, aides to embattled President Donald Trump feed him data from internal polls that don't reflect public sentiment in order to keep his spirits up -- although some White House insiders call the numbers "delusional."

Like many presidents, Trump is fascinated with how he is perceived by the public and has been known to forward polls showing support from the American public to members of Congress to keep them in line with his agenda.

The report notes that White House aides show Trump polls designed to make him feel good, according to insiders, with many of those same polls weighted towards voters who cast ballots for him in 2016 or have made their enthusiasm for Trump known.

According to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a former Trump adviser, Trump is obsessed with his polling numbers as if he is still running for office.

“You know, I thought that he’d be a little less in campaign mode than he’s been. I think he’s never really kind of gotten out of campaign mode and I thought he might,” Christie explained. “I guess it’s his judgment that that’s what he has to do but that’s surprised me a little bit.”

The report goes on to state that Trump relies on internal polling that even some White House deride as "delusional" or "just not accurate," which are described as "almost always higher than his public polling numbers."

Confronted with one poll that showed support for Trumpcare, one senior aide commented, "I wouldn’t trust our polling on that," but that didn't stop the president from being disappointed when both houses of Congress failed to pass any reforms, including Trump's promise to "repeal and replace" popular Obamacare.

“The polls are about the base,” explained one adviser. “He cares about the base.”