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Last Friday, around 6 p.m., senior White House officials called Mr. Parscale to let him know that Mr. Trump had decided to change the date.

In a phone call later that evening, Mr. Parscale connected with Mr. Trump himself, who said he favored moving the rally to Thursday. Mr. Parscale talked him into Saturday, arguing that they could turn it into an all-day festival, with indoor and outdoor components — again, seemingly unaware that Juneteenth is typically celebrated over the course of several days in Tulsa. Mr. Trump agreed. Just before 11:30 p.m., Mr. Trump tweeted the news of the change of plans “out of respect for this Holiday.”

For a president whose guiding political philosophy has been to double down in the face of criticism, it was seen as a stunning reversal. But Mr. Trump was amenable to changing the date, multiple officials said, in part because it did not involve caving on something he had said or a theory he had promoted, but rather involved publicly overturning a decision made by his campaign aides.

As the campaign plans for a large indoor rally in the BOK Center, a 19,000-seat arena, the administration has been in damage control mode on two fronts. In registering, attendees must acknowledge the risk of exposure to Covid-19 at the rally and promise not to sue Mr. Trump’s campaign or the venue if they fall ill there. Mr. Parscale has ordered tens of thousands of masks to distribute, but does not plan to make wearing them mandatory.

On Thursday, the operators of the arena sent the Trump campaign a letter asking for a written plan identifying “the steps the event will institute for health and safety.’’ The campaign said it was reviewing the letter, adding “we take safety seriously, which is why we’re doing temperature checks for everyone attending, and providing masks and hand sanitizer.’’

Aides to Vice President Mike Pence have called Mr. Watts twice since Saturday to discuss the president’s rally. Mr. Watts said he still did not plan to attend, even though he was friendly with Mr. Pence when the two were colleagues in the House of Representatives.

White House officials, meanwhile, are working to put together an official event involving the president to commemorate Juneteenth, and announced Wednesday a long list of officials and lawmakers who would attend to show support, including virtually every black surrogate the campaign has, many of whom were given speaking roles ahead of the president.