(Bloomberg) -- President Trump plans an aggressive travel schedule,taking him to as many as 13 states over the next seven weeks, tosell the idea of a tax overhaul as the administration tries toavoid repeating the communications failures of its attempt torepeal Obamacare.

With a make-or-break legislative battle looming on taxes, the White House ismoving to clean up a disorganized communications operation, saidfour people familiar with the effort.

The strategy was revealed by top advisers to about 40 alliesduring a closed-door meeting last week. It calls for the presidentto visit states he won where a Democratic senator is up forre-election next year, including Florida, Indiana, Michigan,Montana, Ohio and Pennsylvania, said three people who attended. Thepeople asked not to be identified discussing internal strategy.

In some instances, cabinet members will be deployed behind Trumpin a “second wave” after the president’s speeches and town hallmeetings to amplify his message.

White House officials held the private meeting on Sept. 8 toshare details on its political strategy for tax legislation withallies who can deliver the message on cable news and in local mediainterviews. Separately, they’re prepping economists such as ArthurLaffer, Lawrence Kudlow and Stephen Moore, who served as informaladvisers to Trump’s campaign.

Top communications staffers were at the meeting, including WhiteHouse communications director Hope Hicks, counselor KellyanneConway, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Cliff Sims, amessaging strategist.

Sales campaign

The administration plans to mount the full-bore sales campaigneven though congressional Republicans and the White House haven’tyet determined key elements of the plan, including tax brackets forindividuals, a corporate tax rate, what popular tax advantages willbe eliminated or even whether the changes will be permanent ortemporary. It’s unclear when additional details will emerge.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin revealed one bit of theadministration’s planning Tuesday at CNBC’s Delivering Alphaconference in New York, saying negotiators are considering makingnew provisions of tax law retroactive to the start of the year.That, he said, “would be a big boon for the economy.”

White House officials have concluded that, even without aspecific tax plan, Trump can build support early by making a broadcase for lower rates, a simpler tax code and more incentives formultinational corporations based in the U.S. to bring home profitsstashed overseas.

Trump has already tested this strategy with trips to two states,Missouri and North Dakota, that he carried in 2016 and that arerepresented by a Democratic senator facing re-election in 2018. Healso plans to make time for another stop next week, even though heis scheduled to attend the United Nations General Assembly in NewYork Sept. 19 through 21.

A lack of planning and coordination hampered the White House’seffort on health care and other legislative fights, said severalpeople tapped by the White House to serve as surrogates on taxreform.

‘Vastly different’

“It didn’t put them on the best footing to be successful,” saidJames Davis, executive vice president of Freedom Partners, anadvocacy group partially funded by the Koch brothers. “This isvastly different the level of engagement than what we saw in healthcare.”

“One of the things we can learn from the last battle was that inmany cases we did not get all of our allies on board with the pathforward, so therefore the Republican base was splintered,” WhiteHouse legislative director Marc Short told reporters Tuesday at abreakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

“Team of Teams,” a management book by formergeneral-turned-business consultant Stanley McChrystal, is servingas the template for retooling the White House communicationsoperation. The White House is trying to overcome high staffturnover and past rivalries, with a new emphasis on goodcommunication between various administration teams and withcongressional leaders’ offices.

Hicks, who has been serving as interim communications director,will now lead the communications team on a permanent basis, twoWhite House officials said. She’s viewed by staff as a strongleader because she is one of the president’s most trusted aides andtherefore secure in her standing.

Fox News analyst Mercedes Schlapp is joining the team to helpwith long-term planning. Treasury Department spokesman Tony Sayeghhas been detailed to the White House to help coordinate “allthe moving pieces,” one official said. Shahira Knight, a tax aidewith the National Economic Council, is interfacing with thecommunications team, speechwriters and the Hill. Steven Cheung willmove to the press team to do rapid response.

Target states

The White House legislative affairs and political affairs teamsare choosing the target states for Trump to visit. They’ve also putRepublican-leaning states with GOP senators on the schedule to helpRepublicans stay motivated, one of the people familiar with theplan said.

“It’s only about the votes,” said Bryan Lanza, who was a deputycommunications director for the Trump campaign.

In an effort to maximize the impact with local members ofCongress, the administration is planning the president’s visitswith an eye toward gaining additional attention in the run-up andafterward.

Although details of the tax plan remain fluid, the White Houseis planning for future speeches to highlight specificcomponents of the proposed legislation. Those addresses willbe drafted with input from the president himself, as part of ajoint effort between top aide Stephen Miller’s speech-writingstaff, the communications team, and economic advisers.

North Dakota

The White House plans to turn to prominent corporate chiefexecutives and members of the public to reinforce Trump’s case fora tax overhaul through media interviews.

Administration officials were pleased with a Trump speech inNorth Dakota that highlighted the potential impact of a taxoverhaul on Julie Ellingson, a local fourth-generation rancher whofeared an estate tax might encourage her heirs to sell the farm.The anecdote generated additional coverage as local mediainterviewed Ellingson afterward.

Trump is expected to mix up the format at some of his events,hosting town halls and other more interactive sessions.

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