Trump will do what it takes to ensure supporters turn out for the midterms – even during the mail bomb crisis

Analysis: The president needs the Republican Party to retain control of Congress, says Chris Stevenson; it is the one topic on which he is focused

President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he prepares to board Marine One on the south Llawn of the White House (Getty)

When politicians are deciding their response to events of the magnitude of the slew of mail bombs sent across the US, one of the aims is usually to avoid looking like you are politicising the situation.

However, that has never been the style of Donald Trump, who has always tried to fire up his support base by any means he can – particularly if he feels he is being backed into a corner.

The targets of the bombs all appear to be Trump critics – Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and news network CNN to name just a few – and this has opened the door to Democrats decrying the president’s verbal assaults on his political enemies, as well as descriptions of the media as “fake news” and the “enemy of the people”.

Trump’s public statements at the White House, and at other events, have generally stuck to the script: the safety of Americans is his priority, he says; federal authorities are working hard to bring anyone responsible to justice and are doing a good job.

However, some of his Twitter posts tell a different story. At 3am on Friday morning, Trump tweeted: “Funny how lowly rated CNN, and others, can criticize me at will, even blaming me for the current spate of Bombs.. yet when I criticize them they go wild and scream, ‘it’s just not Presidential!’”

Earlier this week he blamed the media for rising “anger” across the US, knowing the statements would play well to his supporters. In an increasingly polarised and entrenched America, bringing out those voters will be the only way he can succeed at the ballot box.

In a recent poll, few Americans said they believed those stark divisions – particularly over politics – will get better any time soon.

Just 20 per cent of Americans said they think the country will become less divided over the next few years, and 39 per cent think things will get worse.

A strong majority in the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, 77 per cent, said they are dissatisfied with the state of politics in the country.

Trump knows this, even if he has called for unity when speaking about the mail bombings. In another tweet he linked the mail bombs to the crucial midterm elections that are less than two weeks away.

“Republicans are doing so well in early voting, and at the polls, and now this ‘Bomb’ stuff happens and the momentum greatly slows,” the president wrote.

The Congressional midterms are important – they will decide which party is in control of both of the House of Representatives and the Senate, which could greatly affect whether Trump gets to fulfil the rest of his agenda for his first term.

He needs the Republicans to keep control of both chambers to ensure he can push through legislation. That is why Trump needs his base as energised as possible.

Nobody is saying that the packages are the fault of the president, although it is obvious his rhetoric only enforces the divisions that he has said he is seeking to mend. With Trump's interventions not playing well in some districts across the country it is also difficult to know how his reaction to the bombings will affect the midterms.

It may have no effect on the actual results, but it is clear that Trump will push his supporters towards the ballot box at every opportunity – however it comes about.