It’s not that White House officials are altogether unwilling to confront the topic. But many current and former White House staffers I spoke to stressed the problem that has plagued them since the beginning of Trump’s presidency: making plans and sticking to them when the “communicator-in-chief” will, inevitably, prefer his own approach.

“We would always put together plans with the knowledge that he wouldn’t use them or they’d go off the rails,” one recently-departed official told me, “and at this point, with Mueller, they’ve decided they’re not even going to do that.”

“It’s like, ‘Jesus take the wheel,’” the source added, “but scarier.”