iPhone storage problem SOLVED! FINALLY!
It was my Mail that was the culprit. The solution:
Go to Settings/Mail/Accounts/, then select each account and do the following: scroll down to Advanced; at DELETED MESSAGES, change FROM “Never” to either one month, or any other choice, just not “Never”. Now, you will have to go to every account’s individual folders, e.g., Inbox, Sent, Trash, etc. and delete (or Forward out of there) everything you are willing to part with permanently - but this time, in the future, instead of not reducing your storage in the least, new data/mail will disappear from that storage nightmare we’re all trying to solve. I Googled fixes until I was desperate, and all those Apple discussion hits had only fellow sufferers, no solutions. You’re welcome.