[Photo:  armstrongeconomics.com]

Around 6:30 each evening, Secret Service agents gather in the dim hallways of the West Wing to escort Donald Trump home.

For some presidents, the short walk between the Oval Office and the White House residence upstairs is a lifeline to family and a semblance of normal life. Others have used the grand residence for late night entertaining and deal-making with lawmakers.

For Trump, life in the White House residence is, so far, a largely solitary existence. With his wife and youngest son living in New York, and his grown children busy with their young families, Trump's first evenings have been spent largely alone, tethered to the outside world only by his phone and his television. The dramatic change of scenery has left the 70-year-old president, a known creature of habit, a little adrift in the evenings, per one person who spoke with him recently.

Another regular contact described the president as still adjusting to this new digs and his somewhat more confined schedule. His advisers initially said they expected him to spend his evenings holding working dinners, like one scheduled Thursday with Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson.

While Trump has marveled at the history and beauty of his new home, "it's still government housing," said Christopher Ruddy, the CEO of Newsmax and a friend of the president's.

What Other Friends, Advisers and Associates Say.

• Trump has been spending nights making and taking calls to an expanding network of old friends, lawmakers and others. Calls often come in to Trump's personal cellphone and, rather than hold lengthy conversations on the unsecured line, he often calls people back on other lines, sometimes going through the White House switchboard.

• Trump is dialing up associates late at night and early in the morning, before he returns to the West Wing.

• Ryan has become a more frequent point of contact for the president, who has been touting his improved relationship with the speaker in conversations with advisers and associates.

• Trump has privately conceded some early missteps after a turbulent start to his term, including the flawed rollout of his controversial refugee and immigration plan and a lack of clear lanes for his top advisers.

• When not talking about his early presidency, Trump is often watching others talk. Advisers have tried to curb his cable news consumption during the workday, but there are no limits when the president returns to the residence.

• In some ways, his new lifestyle in the White House resembles the routines he created during decades living atop Trump Tower. He long has preferred the comforts of home, eschewing much of Manhattan's social scene in favor of evenings in his penthouse with close friends, family and his television.

• Trump told associates the White House feels like a movie set and has spent time making sure it looks up to his standards. The Trumps have hired Tham Kannalikham, a low-profile interior designer, to help put their touch on the White House residence.