President Donald Trump met with top political aides at the White House on Thursday, a source familiar with the meeting tells CNN, as numerous public polls show the Republican leader significantly underperforming his 2016 pace in key battleground states, raising fears of defeat in November.

Campaign manager Brad Parscale, deputy campaign manager Bill Stepien, pollster Tony Fabrizio, senior aide Jared Kushner and chief of staff Mark Meadows met with Trump to discuss both the campaign and the recent spate of battleground polling, the source said.

During the meeting, Fabrizio, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel and others were blunt with the President -- telling him that their numbers show that he has had a rough couple of weeks, but if the economy turns around, his numbers should follow.

While this group often meets to discuss the campaign, this meeting came at arguably the most politically perilous time in Trump's first term and as top Republican operatives are growing increasingly worried that the coronavirus pandemic, the economic downturn it has wrought, and the racial unrest caused by the killing of George Floyd have dealt a significant blow to the President's reelection chances.

And the concerns go beyond Trump's reelection campaign, with Republican operatives tasked with keeping the Senate in Republican hands and winning back the House in November watching nervously, sources said, knowing that their success or failure is directly tied to whether Trump can turnaround his current slide.

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In an apparent effort to combat these political woes, the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee announced on Thursday that they will resume in-person campaign efforts next week, returning Republican field organizers who have been working from home since March to key states.

Mandi Merritt, an RNC spokeswoman, said that the groups "will resume in person volunteer activities and campaigning where states allow."

But the fears among Republicans go deeper than a lack of in-person campaign events and have been stoked primarily by two new data points: Public polling from key battleground states that show former Vice President Joe Biden in a strong position and how the Trump campaign is spending its resources.

A trio of Fox News polls released this week found the President far underperforming his 2016 showing in Arizona, Wisconsin and Ohio, three states that will be critical to his reelection.

One poll found Trump is trailing Biden 46% to 42% in Arizona, a state Trump won by 3.5 points in 2016.

Another found the race tight in Ohio, with Biden at 45% and Trump at 43%, a divide that is within the margin of error. But Ohio was long seen as a Trump lock in 2020, and even Republicans acknowledge that if Ohio is fully in play, it is unlikely Trump will win in 2020.

And a third poll found Biden, at 49%, with a nine-point lead over Trump, at 40%, in Wisconsin, a state that Trump narrowly won in 2016 and that was emblematic of Democratic failures in the presidential race.

There have also been worrying polls in reliably Republican states like Texas showing a vulnerable Trump. A Quinnipiac University poll released this month found Trump at 44% and Biden at 43%, a statistical tossup in a state the President won by more than 9 points in 2016.

The President, however, remains confident, shrugging of the public polling numbers.

"Just like last time. I was losing to Hillary in every state and I won every state, okay," Trump told Fox News Radio. He then went on to suggest the view from inside his campaign is much different.

"But I saw another poll where I am winning every swing state substantially, and why wouldn't I," he asked.

The polls, taken together, are enough to worry Republicans. But Republican operatives across the country -- especially those tasked with winning back the House and holding onto the Senate -- are watching nervously as the Trump campaign turns its attention to shoring up support with television ads in states like Arizona, Iowa and Ohio, three states the President won in 2016 that were viewed as Democratic reaches in November.

The Trump campaign, according to ad tracking data from CMAG, has spent nearly $1.9 million in those three states since mid-May.

"Worrying about Arizona and Wisconsin when you're losing Ohio and tied in Texas is like worrying about running a marathon when you have a broken leg," said a Republican operative in touch with the Trump campaign.

One area of concern for Republicans is the news cycle is a never-ending churn of coronavirus, economic calamity and civil unrest, making it impossible for Trump to lean into his greatest campaign strength: Defining and attacking his opponent.

While Trump and his campaign have spent a lot of time and money leveling criticism against Biden, much of it has gone unnoticed because voters have far more pressing concerns in a news environment that is seemingly changing by the minute.

And the circumstances -- with anguish and pain playing out on television -- have not only robbed Trump of his ability to attack, worried Republican operatives said, they have also intensified focus on one of his most glaring weaknesses: Showing empathy.

"People are worried, upset and concerned, they want a President that understands that worry and tells them it will be okay," said a Republican operative close to the Trump operation who asked not to be named so they could speak freely about the campaign. "Trump is not a uniter, he is a fighter. For an incumbent during a tumultuous time, Americans are in search of calm and he is incapable of providing that."

This problem is doubled because even as Biden is failing to get any significant media attention, he is widely seen as an empathetic figure, something he highlights regularly.

The concern may be hardest felt in key Senate races, where Republicans know that their fate is closely tied to Trump. Multiple Republican operatives admit that there is only a slim chance the party could hold the Senate in a general election where Trump falls.

That is particularly felt in places like Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina and Maine, four states where Republicans are defending Senate incumbents in what looks like tough races.

"It will be difficult to entirely separate from Trump, therefore his doing well and being competitive is incredibly important to efforts to maintain the Senate and flip the House," said a Republican operative involved in down-ballot races. "There is no cataclysmic Trump failure and Republican down-ballot success."

One of the few silver linings Republicans can find is that there are still five months until Election Day, a veritable eternity in the world of politics. But it remains to be seen, these operatives said, whether Trump can turn it around.

"We have seen crazier things happen. But Republicans cannot remain on this current trajectory and be successful this fall," the operative said. "There needs to be a degree of change in the top-level messaging and contrast that is going on right now."