past master

Besieged on all sides, Mr. Lee is a past master at playing to public emotions.

He is a past master at laying off his debts as well as his moral responsibilities.

There are sequences here that nod to past masters, from Hitchcock to Spielberg to Shyamalan, and shots that revel in the sheer ecstasy of moviemaking.

Pleading his case to Alithea, the Djinn turns Scheherazade, telling stories of his past masters and the centuries of imprisonment he has endured as a result of their lust and greed.

Trump is the past master of that one.