When Reince Priebus was chief of staff, aides scrambled to get info — usually highly visual — in front of Trump at key decision points, like the time Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue brought a map to the Oval to show Trump which states would be hardest hit if he terminated NAFTA.

Bannon would often work Trump over on the phone, and other aides would try to figure out what he’d said to gin up the boss. (The snap transgender decision was partly a Bannon-on-the-telephone production.)

People who know Trump well say it’s not so much that he’s easily manipulated, but that he trusts Kelly, Porter, Jared Kushner, etc., to be honest brokers.