Trump was ‘trying to show strength’ in Chicago. He stepped on his campaign’s own talking points instead.

Susie Wiles, a top adviser to Donald Trump’s campaign, told surrogates on Wednesday morning that hammering their latest talking points — hitting Kamala Harris as “weak, failed, and dangerously liberal” — would be their messaging priority until advised otherwise.

Trump's upcoming appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists conference in Chicago came up only briefly, said a person with knowledge of the discussion.

Hours later their messaging plan was in disarray, with Trump’s remarks in Chicago questioning Harris’s racial identity — “ She happened to turn Black ,” he said — jolting the race and upending the news cycle.

It was perhaps the most vivid illustration yet of how, for all of its sophistication compared to Trump’s 2016 and 2020 operations, even a more professionalized Trump campaign is no match for the impulses of the candidate himself.

Within hours of the disastrous NABJ interview, Trump pushed his own narrative further at a Pennsylvania rally, displaying an old article proclaiming Harris as the “first Indian-American US senator.” The next day, Trump posted on Truth Social that Harris’ “warmth, friendship and love of your Indian Heritage are very much appreciated,” showing an old photo of Harris with family members wearing traditional Indian clothing. Echoing the birtherism of his first campaign, Trump also reposted a purported copy of her birth certificate listing her mother and father’s respective birthplaces as India and Jamaica.

After scrambling since Harris entered the race to find a way to stop her climb, the Trump operation before Wednesday had settled on a policy-focused attack centered on immigration.

Trump stepped all over it.

It wasn’t an entirely new line of attack. In 2019, Donald Trump Jr. shared and then deleted a Twitter post calling Harris “not an American Black.” But his remarks came as he has courted Black voters aggressively since leaving the White House, seeming to make some inroads with the traditionally-Democratic constituency, especially among men. The former president’s remarks on Wednesday threatened to undercut his outreach to those voters.

Trump’s appearance at the NABJ conference almost didn’t happen. Weeks ago, the association invited Trump to come to its convention in Chicago. The final plans, according to a person familiar with the event, including who would moderate a special panel with the former president, were not pieced together until the weekend.

The appearance got off to a rocky start within minutes of Trump’s arrival. Technical issues with the microphones delayed the start, and Trump’s advisers became upset when they were informed the Q&A would feature a live fact check online by Politifact, which had partnered with the convention for the event, according to the person familiar with the event. Trump’s advisers were concerned he was being treated differently than previous guests, the person said.

Backstage, top aides to Trump got on the phone to come to an understanding, and NABJ prepared for the possibility that the former president might back out at the last minute.

The decision to go to Chicago confused some Trump allies, who didn’t think he would get fair treatment. But Trump has shown an eagerness to appear on — and provoke the audiences — of adversarial platforms, like CNN last year and the Libertarian National Convention in May. Trump was “trying to show strength,” said a person with knowledge of the situation, when he decided to go to the NABJ.

The plan was for Trump to do the one-hour long live interview and then fly to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he was holding an evening rally. But the interview was cut short and Trump left the convention fending off criticisms over his answers to the moderators.

The interview was moderated by three journalists the Trump campaign knew: ABC News’ Rachel Scott, who covers him on the campaign trail, Semafor’s Kadia Goba who interviewed him at Mar-a-lago about Black America , and Fox News’ Harris Faulkner, who interviewed him on the morning of the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.

But the event soured quickly after Scott asked Trump directly about race-related controversies and noted internal debate at the NABJ about his invitation.

He drew jeers from the crowd when he attacked Harris over her race and accused her of embracing her Indian or Black ethnicity only when it was politically convenient.

Afterward, Trump privately expressed surprise at the tone of the questions, given the NABJ’s invitation, according to a person familiar with his thinking and granted anonymity to speak freely.

Senior Trump campaign adviser Lynne Patton, who is Black, directed her ire at the media in a statement, deriding what she called “unhinged and unprofessional commentary” about Trump while maintaining that he “has continually said that unlike Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, he’s running to be President for ALL Americans, and if you’re running to unite the entire Country, you have to back it up with action like President Trump did today at the National Association of Black Journalists conference in Chicago.”

Even before he had walked off the stage in Chicago — just over halfway into what was originally billed as a one-hour interview — the fallout was already severe. Trump’s team ahead of the event had already lined up Black surrogates to go on television, but was “looking for help,” said a person with knowledge of the requests, and began reaching out asking them to publicly defend him online.

They did. A series of elected officials, including GOP Reps. Wesley Hunt , Byron Donalds and Sen. Tim Scott , took to social media to praise Trump for showing up for the event. Within 20 minutes, as the interview was still going, entertainer and Trump supporter Amber Rose and conservative commentator Leo Terrell posted nearly identical messages on X: “President Trump is absolutely crushing this interview with @NABJ,” Rose said , with fire emojis. “President Trump is crushing this NABJ interview!” followed Terrell .

Trump’s team quickly reposted the supportive messages from the surrogates on his Truth Social feed.

One adviser to Trump’s campaign, granted anonymity to speak freely, downplayed the effect of the NABJ incident, noting that news coverage by Thursday had mostly moved on to other topics.

Since the spring, Trump has appeared at the Black Conservative Federation Gala in South Carolina, took part in a panel discussion at a Black congregation in Detroit, and held a rally in New York City’s South Bronx, where he appeared onstage with rappers and announced his “Black Americans for Trump” coalition. At each event, he has touted his administration’s economic record, claimed illegal immigration is hurting Black workers, and has tried to equate his mugshot and criminal convictions with discrimination faced by Black Americans — a provocative appeal some critics have described as racist .

Following Trump’s remarks on Wednesday, the Trump campaign adviser who downplayed the effect of the NABJ incident nevertheless conceded that talk of Harris’ race was a “trap he fell into.”

“There’s no upside for having that kind of discussion. They baited the trap,” the adviser said. “We need to stay out of traps.”