--- title: The Donald Trump Honeymoon is Over description: Donald Trump's honeymoon is over. He is trailing Hillary Clinton in most national and swing-state polls. Corey Lewandowski was fired. canonical: https://time.com/4376245/the-donald-trump-honeymoon-is-over/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-21T13:58:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T22:44:06.086Z article:section: Politics og:title: The Donald Trump Honeymoon is Over og:description: Donald Trump's honeymoon is over. He is trailing Hillary Clinton in most national and swing-state polls. Corey Lewandowski was fired. og:url: https://time.com/4376245/the-donald-trump-honeymoon-is-over/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Morning Must Reads og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Donald Trump Honeymoon is Over twitter:description: Donald Trump's honeymoon is over. He is trailing Hillary Clinton in most national and swing-state polls. Corey Lewandowski was fired. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Donald Trump Honeymoon is Over by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Jun 21, 2016 1:58 PM UTC  The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC.Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Jun 21, 2016 1:58 PM UTC **_If you only read one thing:_** _Donald Trump’s honeymoon is over. In the six weeks since being named the presumptive Republican nominee, Trump rose high as Hillary Clinton was locked in a final race against Bernie Sanders and is now coming back down to Earth as she pivots to the general since securing her own nomination. But in many respects Trump has been his own worst enemy, mixing strategic missteps with an array of offensive and outlandish statements that distracted from his core message. He’s trailing Clinton in most national and swing-state polls. All of this came to a head Monday morning when Trump fired his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, the keeper of the “Let Donald Trump be Donald Trump” flame. Yet it’s clear Trump can’t change the root of all of the problems—himself. Instead, his only hope is to channel his energy more productively, while avoiding the temptations to spout off that have taken him of message for more than a month._ The firing of Lewandowski came as **Trump** was confronted by his family members of the direction of the campaign, sources said. But it was largely a function of clashing personalities than competing strategic visions. Yes, Lewandowski sometimes encouraged his boss’ basest tendencies when others in his orbit pushed for a more “presidential” tone, but Trump has proven that he won’t be managed. The ultimate reason for his departure was an effort to get between Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, prompting Ivanka Trump to speak out. Kushner raised doubts about Lewandowski’s management style and the campaign’s difficulties hiring staff and raising money. The candidates’ May finance reports were released Monday, with **Hillary Clinton** holding a 27-1 fundraising advantage over Trump in May—when Trump’s personal loan is taken out of consideration. Trump’s campaign spent more than $1 million more than it took in, even as it reimbursed Trump properties and even his children for expenses incurred helping him on the trail. One of the super PACs backing him put up a paltry $500,000 showing. The finance report is likely to keep many top donors away from Trump rather than send them rushing his way. Donors want to back a winner, and right now Trump isn’t winning. Combined with the difficulty cutting a check to a self-proclaimed $10-billionaire and the candidate’s refusal to conduct traditional “donor maintenance,” the pro-Trump effort is on track to fall far, far short of his $1 billion goal. Here are your must-reads: **Must Reads** [Inside Donald Trump’s Private Meeting With Evangelicals ](http://time.com/4375975/donald-trump-evangelical-conservative-leaders-meeting/?xid=newsletter-brief)TIME’s Elizabeth Dias previews Tuesday’s summit [How Trump University Could Hurt Other Republicans ](http://time.com/4373942/trump-university-pat-toomey-yorktown-university/?xid=newsletter-brief)Awareness of for-profit colleges could hurt GOPers and even Bill Clinton, TIME’s Philip Elliott writes [Donald Trump Fires Campaign Manager Corey Lewandowski ](http://time.com/4374711/donald-trump-corey-lewandowski-leaves/)Shakeup was more about personalities than strategy \[TIME\] [Senate Votes Down Gun Control Proposals in Wake of Orlando Shootings ](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/06/20/senate-heads-for-gun-control-showdown-likely-to-go-nowhere/)Mostly party-line votes were expected \[Washington Post\] [Donald Trump Tweaks Language on Guns, Alcohol and Public Places ](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/21/us/politics/donald-trump-nra-guns-orlando.html?em%5Fpos=small&emc=edit%5Fcn%5F20160621&nl=first-draft&nl%5Fart=4&nlid=55003713&ref=headline&te=1)Backlash from NRA for taking second-amendment rights too far \[New York Times\] [Trump Getting Crushed by Clinton Money Machine ](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/scrawny-trump-campaign-sputters-into-general-224580)The presumptive GOP nominee reported just $1.3 million in cash on hand \[Politico\] **Sound Off** “A shameful display of cowardice” — White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest Tuesday morning on the Senate’s rejection of four gun control proposals in the wake of the Orlando shooting “Paul and I have gotten along amazingly well.” — Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski on CNN about Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, with whom he has repeatedly clashed over strategy and tactics **Bits and Bites** [Joe Biden Blasts Donald Trump’s National Security Ideas](http://time.com/4375123/donald-trump-joe-biden/) \[TIME\] [Hillary Clinton to Pummel Donald Trump on Economy, Calling Him Uncaring](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/21/us/politics/hillary-clinton-economy-speech.html?em%5Fpos=small&emc=edit%5Fcn%5F20160621&nl=first-draft&nl%5Fart=2&nlid=55003713&ref=headline&te=1&%5Fr=0) \[New York Times\] [Man Arrested at Rally Tells Authorities He Wanted to Kill Donald Trump](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/21/us/politics/trump-rally-las-vegas.html?em%5Fpos=small&emc=edit%5Fcn%5F20160621&nl=first-draft&nl%5Fart=5&nlid=55003713&ref=headline&te=1) \[New York Times\] [FBI reversed initial decision to redact ISIS mentions from Orlando 911 transcript](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-reversed-initial-decision-to-redact-isis-mentions-from-orlando-911-transcript/2016/06/20/b45c3848-371d-11e6-a254-2b336e293a3c%5Fstory.html) \[Washington Post\] [Clinton seeks rock-star convention lineup](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/clinton-democratic-convention-hamilton-224583) \[Politico\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4376245/the-donald-trump-honeymoon-is-over/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4376245/the-donald-trump-honeymoon-is-over/"},"headline":"The Donald Trump Honeymoon is Over","datePublished":"2016-06-21T13:58:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:44:06.086Z","description":"Morning Must Reads: June 21","url":"https://time.com/4376245/the-donald-trump-honeymoon-is-over/","keywords":["Morning Must Reads"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Morning Must Reads","caption":"Capitol","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4376245/the-donald-trump-honeymoon-is-over/","name":"The Donald Trump Honeymoon is Over"}}]}] ```