For much of the past two weeks, there’s been a political death watch of sorts for Steve Bannon. First, according to two people close to the matter, Bannon reportedly threatened to resign as Donald Trump’s chief strategist if he was taken off the National Security Council, a bluff that his boss subsequently called. Then, after he was removed, Bannon partisans spun a story that the demotion was natural, since he was only there to “babysit” the recently departed Michael Flynn. Then came a slew of stories, starting with Mike Allen’s report in Axios about how the “globalists,” namely former Goldman Sachs executives Gary Cohn and Dina Powell (ostensibly backed by Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump), were threatening to dismantle the very core of Trump’s support, the so-called “deplorables” who elected him. And, finally, came Trump’s coup de grace—an interview with the New York Post’s Michael Goodwin noting that Bannon was a “good guy” (a term Trump has lavished on former pals ranging from Newt Gingrich to Ted Cruz), who “was not involved in my campaign until very late.” As the president chillingly noted, “I’m my own strategist.”

In the intervening weeks, news organizations (including this one) have been feverishly reporting on the various permutations of an end to the Trump-Bannon bromance. Politico, for instance, speculated upon Bannon’s potential recourse, noting “friends and foes imagine his options for brutal payback.” In an opinion piece, Frank Bruni of The New York Times pronounced him doomed. The Times also recently reported that Bannon met with Trump backer and mega-donor Rebekah Mercer last week, about potential post–White House options.

But, in the end, none of these proclamations may be true. A person familiar with Bannon’s thinking told me that he remains profoundly misunderstood. He isn’t so much an ideologue, this person said, as a deal-maker; like his famous boss, he is willing to compromise. “People try and put him in a box to say he’s a political consultant when he really is a media executive,” this person said. This person went on to put some distance between Bannon and the Breitbart audience he is seen to represent in the West Wing. “I’m not saying he doesn’t agree with Breitbart; he does. He doesn’t agree with 100 percent of what’s there.” But, this person added, “he’s an executive first.” Another person close to Bannon suggested that it was unlikely that he was going anywhere anytime soon. “The guy does not quit,” this person said. “I don’t think he’s going to quit.” David Bossie, Trump’s former deputy campaign manager, put it to me more bluntly. “Steve is part of the team. He was part of the team during the campaign. He is part of the team now. It is not about Steve. It is about the ideas that elected Donald Trump.”

Video: Steve Bannon: The Shadow President

While “executive first” sounds like the sort of insult that Bannon might lob at Cohn or Kushner, this comment might be the skeleton key to understanding how Bannon hopes to manage the next chapter of his survival. Bannon will not be going hog wild—as he once advised Breitbart political editor Matthew Boyle regarding his treatment of the Republican leadership—but may instead be entering the sort of temporary Trump rubber room previously visited by Kellyanne Conway, Rex Tillerson, and others. (Even Chris Christie has proven that former Trump allies can attempt a second chance.) One reality of the Trump White House is that everyone seems to take their lumps at one time or another. And Bannon may simply be the most recent example.