Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus has begun stating in private meetings that the party has sway over its at times unwelcome front-runner because it has tools Trump will need to use to win a general election — voter data and field, digital and media operations that a nominee typically inherits from the party infrastructure.

Dangling access to these resources, Priebus thinks he can help steer Trump toward partywide policy goals and away from the inflammatory rhetoric that Republican officials see as divisive and dangerous, especially outside of the primary, according to two Republican sources who have spoken with the RNC chairman.

“It’s a relationship,” said RNC chief strategist and communications director Sean Spicer. “Every nominee — it doesn’t matter this cycle or last cycle — understands now that the role of parties is critical in terms of the manpower, the data, the press operation, the research. The bottom line is no nominee can win without the party.”

But the very idea that the party can somehow control or even influence Trump strikes some Republicans as laughable given a primary season marked by the front-runner’s deliberate and aggressive disregard for political norms and party goals.