Answer:
After Donald Trump assumed power, there had been a feeling that the massive government he had just inherited would outstrip him. The young president was impetuous, bottomlessly incompetent, almost chemically inattentive, while the politicians were experienced, shrewd, self-protective, even their organizations safe. They realized where another power levers were, and when to use the others or help stop the leader from doing so.
Trump's administration was messy and violent, beyond anything else in nation's history, and it didn't matter as much as "the elders" really were watching for the whims of the leader and deflecting on his seat his horrible proposals and quietly pocketing disruptive orders.