When faced with what appears to be a Trump problem, pundits look at Trump and call him crazy, self-defeating or dumb. That's because they are assuming that he wants to govern. But if Trump is evaluated by the actual results of his actions, there is a clear pattern that appears. Here is an outline of the major power centers and his weakening of them:
Target: Media: Weakens media by providing “fake news” to favored media and claiming that other media are producing “fake news”. Uses tweets to normalize alt right idea.
Target: business community: Calls out Carrier for exporting jobs. This strikes fear into the heart of the business world. Trump has just put them on notice that he will use his bully pulpit for actually hurt a particular company for no reason at all. Lesson: I can make your stock lose $$ in one day.
Target: Intelligence community: By constantly demeaning the FBI and CIA, he is delegitimatizing them so that they are no longer trusted.
Target: Judicial system: By attacking individual judges not the law, he is destroying it as a power center.
Target: Congress: Every time the House has attempted to get a bill to the floor, Trump changes the agenda on them. First Healthcare, then no let's do taxes, then healthcare again just as the House is about to prevent a shutdown.
Target: State Dept.: He refuses to staff and cuts programs that help our allies and strengthens our international standing. Thus all international policy must come from him. And America's position in the world is weakened.
So no legislation is a win for Trump; no State dept. staff gives him a free hand.
This is the way that a demagogue makes it possible to take over a democratic country. With other power centers weakened, he can induce a "crisis" that will let him take over all power. Like Russia, another "democracy", he will have all the power and a lapdog congress to rubber stamp his decisions.