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 a slate of polls showed Kamala Harris eating away at his support in battleground states.

The campaign is dismissing talk of a shakeup, calling it an effort to bolster the existing structure – in a White House effort that before the GOP Convention drew plaudits for stability as Trump dispatched his primary rivals.

Trump himself put that interpretation to rest by calling campaign chiefs Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita 'THE BEST' in an online post.

'Many people want to join the Campaign for the final push, some from the first two Campaigns - And we want as many as we can get!' Trump wrote.

In Lewandowski, who helmed Trump's original 2016 effort before being pushed out in a shake-up, the campaing has a new senior advisor who knows Trump's habits and titled his book off the mantra of: 'Let Trump be Trump.'  

It comes at a time when outside advisors are saying the campaign could use some more guardrails to keep the candidate from going full-on, as when he called new opponent Kamala Harris 'not very smart' in an economic speech where he held up a box of Tic Tacs. 

Former President Donald Trump is bringing back Corey Lewandowski as a senior advisor to his campaign

Also coming on board are Taylor Budowich, who ran the super PAC MAGA, Inc., Tim Murtaugh, who served as Trump's communications chief in 2024, Alex Pfeiffer, and Alex Bruesewitz, a consultant who had been considering a run for Congress in Wisconsin.

Pfeiffer and Bruesewitz were both officials at MAG, Inc.

'As we head into the home stretch of this election, we are continuing to add to 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 prior Trump campaigns and their unmatched experience will help President Trump prosecute the case against Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, the most radical ticket in American history.'

One campaign officials called it 'just an addition to the campaign' and said Trump's statement made clear it was not a shakeup of the current staff.

Corey Lewandowski was 'very involved' in Trump's 2016 effort, as the candidate put it. The fired former campaign chief is coming back as a senior advisor at a time when Kamala Harris has been improving on Joe Biden's poll position

Trump began his statement by saying he was leading in the polls, but recent movements have showed Kamala Harris tied or leading in key battlegrounds

Trump began his post by writing: 'We’re leading in almost all Polls, in some cases leading by A LOT, despite the fact that the Fake News is pulling out all stops for their Radical Left San Francisco Liberal, Kamala Harris.'

That misstates the state of public polling – although Trump was able to outperform polls in his surprise 2016 win.

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

The Cook Political Report pulled back its rankings in three states after polls showed Harris tied or leading Trump in six of seven battleground polls. 

Trump's pollster Tony Fabrizio has the candidate tied with Harris in Michigan at 48. 

Trump fired Lewandowski, who had steered his campaign through New Hampshire and the early primaries, in June of 2016, after having brought on Paul Manafort as chief strategist. Manafort would resign by August, and Trump brought on Kellyanne Conway as campaign manager and Steve Bannon for the remainder of his White House run. 

'I am pleased to announce that Corey Lewandowski, who was very involved in 2016, will be coming on board as a Senior Advisor. Others, likewise, are joining us. They’ll be announced soon!' Trump posted. 

Lewandowski had already been advising Trump's campaign, and was on hand for Trump's debate against Joe Biden in Atlanta this summer.