In firing Steve Bannon, President Trump has lost his chief ideologue, the man who channeled his base and advocated for the populist-nationalist policies that helped propel Trump to victory.
But he has gained an unpredictable and potentially troublesome outside ally who has long experience running a media organization, and an even longer list of enemies. Steve is now unchained, said a source close to Bannon. Fully unchained.
Hes going nuclear, said another friend. You have no idea. This is gonna be really fucking bad.
Bannon had in recent days mused about leaving, according to people who have spoken with him; he has expressed to friends that he feels the administration is failing and is a sinking ship. And last week he told people in a meeting that he would have 10 times more influence outside the White House than inside it.
Sources close to Bannon say he is likely to go back to Breitbart News, the right-wing website he ran before joining the Trump campaign last year. He met with Alex Marlow, Breitbarts editor in chief, on Sunday and Monday, according to a source close to Bannon. Under Bannon, Breitbart morphed into an aggressive pro-Trump outlet, voicing many themes of his campaign even before he declared his candidacy. Since Trump took office, it has often seemed to function as has functioned as a PR shop for Bannons faction of the White House. It has frequently run stories attacking Bannons rivals, most recently including National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and National Economic Council chair Gary Cohn.
Already, Breitbart is on a war footing. It may turn out to be the beginning of the end for the Trump administration, the moment Donald Trump became Arnold Schwarzenegger, editor Joel Pollak wrote on Friday, referring to the actor-turned California governor, who won office as a populist outsider, and exited with a 23 percent approval rating.
Bannons next steps are being worked out with Robert and Rebekah Mercer, the billionaire Republican donors who have been some of Trumps most important supporters and Bannons consistent patrons. Two of Bannons friends told me Bannon met with Bob Mercer this week in New York while Trump was in town.
First hes gonna figure things out with Bob and Bekah, said one Bannon ally. Breitbarts certainly the likely landing spot. This ally said that Bannon may also move to a Mercer-funded outside group, or even start a new one.~
Another friend of Bannons doubted this: Why would he help them from the outside at this point? Run the outside group and then Jared Kushner takes credit? Two sources close to Bannon said that he has for some time complained about Kushner being an issue in the Russia investigation; one of the sources said Bannon regards Kushner as the weak link in the White House when it comes to the investigation.
Bannons animus towards the globalists in the administration is well known. Now, from the outside, he no longer has any reason to play nice.
Another source close to Bannon said that he remains loyal to Trump himself. But when Steve feels the Trump administration is wrong, will he point to the people he has the inside knowledge about who are pushing for certain policies? I assume he will.
...
