President Donald Trump has changed the face and protocol of the U.S. presidency, but it was not to merely be contrarian to past administrations, he is moving in the direction he believes is best, White House chief of staff John Kelly told The New York Times.

"He very seldom asks how other presidents did this," Gen. Kelly told the paper.

"The norms and conventions are exactly what he ran against and, in his view, are why we're in the fix we're in. He doesn't intentionally make decisions that are opposite, say, of what a previous president would make. He's got a view of what's better for America."

Kelly, who entered the White House in the middle of Trump's first year, is not alone in his assessment of the new-age president – inner circle or otherwise – according to the report.

"You've got someone who is defining the presidency very differently," presidential historian Michael Beschloss told the Times. "Trump is essentially saying, 'I'm not going to operate just within the boundaries that the founders might have expected or people might have expected for 200 years. I'm going to operate within the boundaries of what is strictly legal, and I'm going to push those boundaries if I can.'"

Others interviewed by the Post used phrases such as "outside the box" and a "one-man show," doing things his way and unabated by insiders, outsiders, and especially not his detractors.

"It's a presidency of one person," Ron Klain, who served in the White House during the Clinton and Obama administrations. "That's really kind of a stunning thing. There is no Trump doctrine. There is no Trump plan. There is no Trumpism. There's just Trump. Whatever Trump says is what Trump is. No one else speaks for him."

Among the biggest criticisms of the president are his attacking nature – he has proved to be a fighter in business, the election campaign, and against political opposition – and arguably uncouth, unfiltered responses.

"We're seeing the presidency completely and utterly transformed in a way I don't think we've seen since before the Civil War," Southern Methodist University presidential historian Jeffrey A. Engel told the Times. "Trump is arguing that we need to take care of my enemies. I really can't think of any precedent."

Even his personal friends may attest to that.

"He's transformed the bully pulpit like no other president," Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy told the Times. "He's not really been a traditional president on many levels – he's empowered the president and made the presidency stronger."

Trump's critics are not as forthcoming with praise for his White House-changing ways.