Only a few feet separate those in power and the people who are part of their checks and balances. Fifteen steps. Perhaps 20. They lead across a beige spotted carpet in the White House that has seen better days. A blue sliding door leads from the head of the Briefing Room where Donald Trump’s spokesman, Sean Spicer, seeks each day to harmonize the president’s world with reality, to the small kingdom of his support staff. With the push of a button, a further sliding door opens on the left to the West Wing, the heart of American power.