Aides talked about living in dread of “5 o’clock,” marking the arrival of the daily dump of damaging leaks or fresh reports of staff infighting…

In a telling turnabout, members of Mr. Trump’s team are hoping to slow the tempo set by the president and his hard-charging chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon.

They have suggested that he calm down, spend less time on Twitter, and avoid making decisions too quickly.

Most of his top staff members were suggesting pumping the brakes when the president was suggesting that he was leaning toward quickly hiring Joseph I. Lieberman, the former Connecticut senator, as Mr. Comey’s replacement.