ANALYSIS: Trump calls on inner circle as Spicer makes his exit

— -- As the walls close in on President Donald Trump, he's looking inward -- elevating loyalists and gearing up for an unpredictable series of battles.

The abrupt resignation of Sean Spicer as White House press secretary solidifies a shift in internal power dynamics that reinforce the president’s own thinking. When in crisis Trump does not seek outside help, but further isolates himself and turns to his closest cohorts. The shuffle in the West Wing put front and center long-running feuds between competing influence circles in the Trump White House.

As much as the public saw Spicer at his podium (and portrayed on "Saturday Night Live") as a Trump devotee, his previous perch at the Republican National Committee -- alongside Chief of Staff Reince Priebus -- actually meant he was late to Team Trump. He represented needed bridges to the Republican Party and larger establishment forces in Washington, but his background also meant it was easy for Trump’s inner circle question his work and allegiances.

The elevation of Anthony Scaramucci, a New York financier with no communications management experience who has long been close to Trump, puts a man who seems like family at the center White House messaging.

In a bold first day at the podium, Scaramucci came across confident, open, and a lot like the president himself.

With his straight-in-the-eye style, unapologetic tone, New York references and diction (the unmistakable pronunciation of the word “yuge”), it was clear why Scaramucci must settle the president’s nerves. Scaramucci paid compliment after compliment to Trump, as we know Trump likes. He sounded sure-footed and familiar.

When the dust settles from the virtuoso performance today, though, what will matter is whether the president will listen to Scaramucci at all and whether his advice will be good. It doesn’t matter if staff is capable of blowing kisses to the cameras, if the principal himself is creating chaos and doing the inexplicable.

The shake-ups with the legal team are the same. The president is a client that clearly does not take counsel. Speaking off the cuff to New York Times reporters about his frustrations with Attorney General Jeff Sessions cannot be the sort of advice any astute lawyer would give.

For so many Americans, the staff choices at the White House must seem petty, insidery and irrelevant. And they are, in a way. The idea that this back and forth eclipses other crucial stories rightly drives people nuts. Washington gossip should not always be center stage when there is much more that impacts people’s lives.

But in a crisis, it is important that the American people trust whoever says they speak for the president. And, the country is, arguably, in crisis. This president is rumored to be flirting with -- or at least interested in -- major constitutional questions like whether he can pardon himself. His team is said to be working to cast doubt on the special counsel. Those are realities where the next moves could have lasting legal and political consequences, realities where messaging and transparency matter.