Is there such a thing as Trumpism without Bannonism? At her White House press briefing today, Sarah Hucakbee Sanders asserted that they are distinct political forces, alluding to the “President’s base” as a different entity from Bannon’s Breitbart media bubble.

But how separate are these two theoretical entities? I’ve argued that the biggest loser of the 2016 election was the establishment GOP, who, after collectively and unsuccessfully stopping Trump in the primary, find themselves bound to a president they privately despise out of fear he will tweet at them. Trump and Bannon may have eviscerated the GOP, but that’s not the same as building up a durable political infrastructure (a lesson Obama taught the Democrats). And today’s split, shows just how fractured and dissolute the Republican Party is and will remain for years.

Between Trump and Bannon, there’s no question about who has more political pull or star power. Still, since Bannon was fired, it’s clear that he views Trump as an imperfect vessel for his program of economic ethno-nationalism. And tactically, at least, you can read his incendiary quotes about where he thinks the Russia investigation will go as a way to protect Bannonism if Mueller brings down Trump.

But what about Trump? His agenda has never been much more than self-gratification of his enormous ego and spiting his enemies (of whom Bannon is now near the top of the list). This vacuum has been eagerly filled by people with other ideas — Bannon first among them — but no one should mistake them as Trumpism.

It’s no mystery where Trump will go from here: the same place he always go, which is narcissism. Trump the egoist may simply overestimate how much of his political appeal is due his own personal brand versus how much of it has been channeling Bannonism.

But if he feels the need to renounce Bannon, what does that look like? Mitch McConnell may be enjoying today’s fireworks, but it’s hard to imagine Trump pivoting his political capital to someone like Martha McSally in the race for Jeff Flake’s Arizona Senate seat at the expesnse of a Breitbart-friendly candidate like Kelli Ward. He might do it just to spite Bannon. But imagine you are Ward: how do you thread the needle now of trying to appeal to the Breitbart crowd without risking Trump’s wrath?