Some time ago I heard undocumented claims that every single US president is only allowed into office if the Trilateral Commission and the CFR approve. Likewise I often heard that the election of President Trump was shocking because he was an outsider (relatively). However, Trump had many personal contacts with insiders such as Cohn the blackmailer.

When I tried to dig, it seemed to me that several former presidents were NOT groomed by the Trilats and the CFR. It seemed that Ronald Reagan was groomed by organized crime, for example, by way of Hollywood producers. Some links describe Reagan as having been suborned once he was in office:

https://www.antiwar.com/berkman/trilat.html

Some links make it look like the Trilats and the CFR only have indirect power rather than immediate controlling power:

https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2019/08/12/how-the-trilateral-commission-drove-a-bankers-coup-across-america/

https://www.thenewamerican.com/print-magazine/item/27866-deep-state-behind-the-deep-state-cfr-trilaterals-bilderbergs

As far as I can tell, the official powers of the Trilats and the CFR are very minor. Their real power appears to arise from the "old-boys'-club" effect. Everybody who has powerful connections either wants to be a member of the club, or wants to have a personal phone number to get the attention of a friendly fixer on the inside.

But I am not an expert on this so correct me if I'm wrong.