Reports: Steve Bannon out of The White House

By Jack Phillips
August 18, 2017 Last Updated: August 19, 2017
White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon waits for the arrival of President Donald Trump for a meeting on cyber security in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington on Jan. 31, 2017. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Steve Bannon, the White House chief strategist who helped President Donald Trump win the 2016 election, has reportedly been removed, according to several media reports.

The New York Times, ABC News, the Wall Street Journal, and even the Drudge Report on Friday reported that the former Breitbart News executive, with Drudge reporting that the “populist hero may return to Breitbart.”

The Times reported that Trump told aides that he has decided to push him out as the chief strategist.

Reports say that Bannon had clashed for months with other senior advisers in the West Wing, including members of Trump’s family.

White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and White House director of strategic communications Hope Hicks walk along the colonnade ahead of a joint press conference by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington on Feb. 10, 2017. (REUTERS/Jim Bourg)
White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and White House director of strategic communications Hope Hicks walk along the colonnade ahead of a joint press conference by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington on Feb. 10, 2017. (REUTERS/Jim Bourg)

On Tuesday, at Trump Tower, the president said Bannon is “not a racist,” as some media have accused, and that he considers him “a friend.”

“I like him, he’s a good man, he is not a racist, I can tell you that,” Trump said. “He’s a good person and I think the press treats him, frankly, very unfairly.” 

“We’ll see what happens with Mr. Bannon,” Trump said.

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U.S. President Donald Trump is joined by (L-R) Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Vice President Mike Pence, senior advisor Steve Bannon, Communications Director Sean Spicer and National Security Advisor Michael Flynn as he speaks by phone with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. on Jan. 28, 2017. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)
U.S. President Donald Trump is joined by (L-R) Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Vice President Mike Pence, senior advisor Steve Bannon, Communications Director Sean Spicer and National Security Advisor Michael Flynn as he speaks by phone with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. on Jan. 28, 2017. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

Trump is still looking into the time and manner of Bannon’s exit and might still change his mind, the Times reported, citing two administration officials.

Neither President Trump nor Bannon have yet issued a public comment on the matter.

 

White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon (L) listens with U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy Dina Powell (R) during a bilateral meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and China's President Xi Jinping (Not Pictured) at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida on April 7, 2017. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)
White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon (L) listens with U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy Dina Powell (R) during a bilateral meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and China’s President Xi Jinping (Not Pictured) at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida on April 7, 2017. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)