Chief Strategist Steve Bannon walks behind U.S. President Donald Trump toward Marine One before departing from the White House on February 24, 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
“His departure may seem turbulent in the media, but inside it will be very smooth. He has no projects or responsibilities to hand off.”
By Jake Johnson / 08.18.2017
Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump’s chief strategist, is reportedly out at the White House, according to multiple sources.
Axios‘s Jonathan Swan initially reported Friday that a decision on whether Bannon would keep his job was “imminent,” and subsequent reports indicate that Bannon is departing.
It is unclear whether Bannon resigned or if Trump, who has of late been under pressure to remove the “nationalist wing” of his administration, ultimately decided to fire him.
The New York Times summarized:
The president and senior White House officials were debating when and how to dismiss Mr. Bannon. The two administration officials cautioned that Mr. Trump is known to be averse to confrontation within his inner circle, and could decide to keep on Mr. Bannon for some time. As of Friday morning, the two men were still discussing Mr. Bannon’s future, the officials said. A person close to Mr. Bannon insisted the parting of ways was his idea, and that he had submitted his resignation to the president on Aug. 7.
Bannon made headlines earlier this week after The American Prospect‘s Robert Kuttner published the details of a phone conversation he had with the former executive chair of the right-wing outlet Breitbart.
During the call, Bannon casually discussed administration in-fighting and mocked the White House’s stance on North Korea.
At an impromptu press conference on Tuesday, Trump seemed to express doubt about Bannon’s future.
“We’ll see,” he said in response to questions about Bannon’s status.
In a now infamous speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) earlier this year, Bannon described his ambitious plan to fundamentally alter the American political system. The called the end goal of his vision “the deconstruction of the administrative state”—everything from the tax system to trade deals to regulations.
For now, at least, that plan appears to be on hold.
White House officials, for their part, don’t seem worried that his departure will cause any internal turmoil.
“His departure may seem turbulent in the media, but inside it will be very smooth,” one official told Swan. “He has no projects or responsibilities to hand off.”