Donald Trump gives a furious defense of his campaign team as he announces changes and brings back Corey Lewandowski… with Kamala gaining in the polls

Donald Trump is bringing some familiar faces into his campaign after polls showed Kamala Harris undermining his support in key states.

The campaign has dismissed talk of a shakeup, calling it an effort to shore up the existing structure — a White House effort that drew praise for its stability before the GOP convention as Trump battled rivals in the primaries.

Trump himself contradicted this interpretation, calling campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita “THE BEST” in an online post.

“Many people want to join the Campaign for the final phase, some from the first two Campaigns. And we want to get as many as possible!” Trump wrote.

With Lewandowski, who led Trump’s original campaign in 2016 until he was ousted in a reorganization, the campaign has a new senior adviser who knows Trump’s habits and titled his book, “Let Trump Be Trump.”

It comes at a time when outside advisers say the campaign could use some more restraint to keep the candidate from going all out, calling new opponent Kamala Harris “not very smart” in an economics speech in which he held up a box of Tic Tacs.

Also on board are Taylor Budowich, who led the super PAC MAGA, Inc.; Tim Murtaugh, who served as Trump’s communications chief in 2024; Alex Pfeiffer; and Alex Bruesewitz, a consultant who considered running for Congress in Wisconsin.

Pfeiffer and Bruesewitz were both officers of MAG, Inc.

“As we enter the final stretch of this election, we continue to build out our impressive campaign team,” Wiles and LaCivita said in a statement.

‘Corey Lewandowski, Taylor Budowich, Alex Pfeiffer, Alex Bruesewitz and Tim Murtaugh are all veterans of previous Trump campaigns and their unparalleled experience will help President Trump prosecute Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, the most radical candidacy in American history.’

A campaign official called it “just an addition to the campaign” and said Trump’s statement made clear it was not a restructuring of current staff.

Corey Lewandowski was “very involved” in Trump’s 2016 efforts, in the candidate’s own words. The fired former campaign manager returns as a senior adviser at a time when Kamala Harris has improved Joe Biden’s polling position

Trump began his statement by saying he is ahead in the polls, but recent movements have shown Kamala Harris tied or ahead in key battlegrounds

Trump began his message by saying, “We are ahead in almost all polls, in some cases BY FAR, despite the fact that the fake news networks are doing everything they can to support their radical left liberal Kamala Harris.”

That gives a distorted picture of the state of public opinion polls – although Trump did manage to top the polls in his surprise victory in 2016.

In the latest Fox News national poll, he narrowly leads Harris (50-49), and in the new Emerson poll, he trails her by 4 points.

The Cook Political Report reversed its rankings in three states after polls showed Harris tied or ahead of Trump in six of seven crucial polls.

Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio estimates that the candidate is tied with Harris (48) in Michigan.

Trump fired Lewandowski, who had led his campaign through New Hampshire and the early primaries, in June 2016 after hiring Paul Manafort as chief strategist. Manafort would step down in August, and Trump brought in Kellyanne Conway as campaign manager and Steve Bannon for the remainder of his White House term.

“I am pleased to announce that Corey Lewandowski, who was very involved in 2016, is coming on board as Senior Advisor. Others are joining us as well. They will be announced shortly!” Trump posted.

Lewandowski has previously advised Trump’s campaign and attended Trump’s debate with Joe Biden in Atlanta this summer.