If the Trump administration, led by a Bannon coup, does go feral, one of the first people outside of the administration who will know of a worrisome dysfunction will be Paul Ryan - and that’s because of his friendship with Priebus. Therefore, how Ryan responds to the various caprices of Trump may prove a leading indicator about what’s going on in the Oval Office. Same goes with Mattis - his hire gave me hope because he seems to me a man not inclined to tolerate bull shit - therefore him taking the job said to me he must have formed some level of trust in how Trump would govern. If that trust falls away due to a malaise created by Bannon acquiring too much power and influence, I don’t expect Mattis to take kindly to that development - therefore he’s another one to watch for leading indicators about what’s going on in that Oval Office. As said before, because of his august reputation Mattis wields much power - if he starts showing signs of being very unhappy that could damage the legitimacy of the Trump presidency in a major way. I assume Bannon and Mattis both understand this - therefore I expect the situation to degrade rapidly should the dynamic clearly become one that favors Bannon over Mattis. Same goes with Tillerson I expect.
