"Steve is a good guy, but I told them to straighten it out or I will", Trump said. At the same time, white supremacist Richard Spencer embraced the Trump candidacy and said, "I really do admire and respect what he's doing".
Bannon is a controversial guy, to say the least, and I don't agree with some important positions he has taken.
The unusual public, lukewarm support from the boss has Bannon's friends and advisers anxious he will soon be out of a job.
Bannon was largely responsible for reviving Trump's sinking campaign last fall, and his ethos has been evident in a number of Trump's governing decisions: the doom-and-gloom "American carnage" speech on Inauguration Day; the executive order banning refugees and visitors from seven (then six) predominantly Muslim countries; the combative press conferences with the media-a.k.a. "America's enemy".
Bossie and Bannon had worked together on a series of conservative media partnerships, many of which were funded by the Mercers, who at the time were creating a wide network of data and advocacy projects.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer tried Wednesday to knock down reports that President Trump's chief strategist, Steve Bannon, had fallen out of favor, telling Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" that the president "values Steve's commitment to the team". Bannon has been on the wrong side of some unpleasant public barbs from Trump. He did so in an interview with Michael Goodwin of the New York Post. "Mr. Trump thank you very much for enjoying us on the initial Breitbart News Daily show".
That is brutal. Bannon, the former head of the right-wing website Breitbart with a very particular world view, was brought on in August of 2016 and named the campaign's "CEO".
In surprise move, Iran's Ahmadinejad registers to run for president
But, he is widely expected to do so, and the reformist camp in Iran has already picked him as its chosen candidate. Ahmadinejad won two successive terms in 2005 and 2009 before being replaced by Rouhani in 2013.
Storm clouds are gathering over the White House, and its resident lightning rod, Steve Bannon, might be in trouble. Those words now have significant meaning in the president's new administration. "I don't have people making decisions". And Trump, apparently is sick and exhausted of hearing about how Bannon won the election and is deemed to be so such a force in the White House that some refer to him as President Bannon.
Kushner is Jewish. Reporters and those who spoke out against Trump during the campaign reported repeated online harassment.
President Trump meets with top military leaders tonight.
Despite rumblings that Bannon's West Wing days may be numbered, the administration has insisted everything is fine.
Recently, the president has undercut Bannon in front of other senior staffers, including questioning the need for his presence in certain White House meetings.
If the shift is on, it's a work in progress - and it remains to be seen if Bannon will hang around to shape or thwart it; and if Spicer can survive to spruik it in the pressroom. It directly contradicts the president's previous claims that he knew Bannon for many years. But he also has drawn a line in the past when it comes to his kids. "If Trump fired Bannon and kept Cohn, I don't think the White House understands the shit storm they would face". And now the Trump presidency is handed not to the populists and nationalists like Bannon, but to the normal tax-slashing Goldman insiders, the ambitious generals' generals, and to the Trump family itself. "He's not going anywhere", But he adds, "Bannon should not go anywhere either because of what he represents to the voter".
AP White House correspondent Julie Pace contributed to this report. We'll keep you posted.
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