willing to commit substantial resources to the group, which is still in early talks but is envisioned as a heavyweight GOP group similar to the Senate Leadership Fund or Congressional Leadership Fund.

Adelson has also been staying in close touch with Trump administration hands in Washington -- last week, Adelson visited Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, one of the architects behind the White House's plan to replace Obamacare.

Few other donors -- except for the big whales like Adelson -- have had as much contact from the White House. The donor-tending that Romney zealously embraced is missing.

But major GOP givers and their aides on the grounds of Romney's annual ideas summit continue to insist that for all the chaos of Trump's Washington -- thrown into stark spotlight justthis week -- Trump is remaining palatable, even if, in the words one attendee, "the amount of chaos is pretty overwhelming."

Top Republicans have abandoned hope that Trump would govern as a steadier leader, and have begun to succumb to the chaos that has defined Trump's first five months. A recognition has taken hold, Republicans here said, that the drama is here to stay.

"His problem is not issues," said Kaufman as he trekked through mountain shrubbery, at least 15 minutes behind Romney. "His problem is style."

Some top givers maintain an "I told you so" air heading into 2018, observing that Trump had wrought the spectacle that discouraged them from supporting him in the first place. Yet a larger group eyes the midterms more humbly, recognizing Trump's poor popularity endangers