This is what the White House thinks the average American scraping by gives a shit about?

No. Much of what the current administration does is to feed Trump’s ego. This isn’t aimed at the public. It’s aimed at Trump himself. Look at the way world leaders are dealing with Trump. In Ukraine, they’ve switched from “many civilians are dying because an expansionist power is invading a sovereign European nation” to “Putin is mocking you”. They know Trump is much more likely to respond to attacks to his ego than appeals to his humanity.