I agree that there are different levels of danger to Trump's lies. But I honestly doubt he has the depth of intellect to have formed any kind of coherent plan around them. I think Trump lives entirely in the moment, and almost everything he says is on impulse. 

However, the same is not true of those around him, especially Bannon. So the question is, how much influence do his advisers have on Trump? My fear is that Trump will be content to let them run the show because the alternative would be to take a true leadership role that he knows, in his heart of hearts, he isn't qualified for.

I expect as this administration goes on and the water gets deeper around him, Trump will only get more defensive and his episodes of lashing out will get increasingly vicious. This will be especially true if there actually does turn out to be a smoking gun regarding the Russia business. I have a feeling what we've seen so far is nothing compared to the ugliness to come.