Stephen Bannon was reportedly delighted by the massive protests against Trump's travel ban

(Image credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

published 28 February 2017

The outrage over President Trump's immigration executive order went exactly according to chief strategist Stephen Bannon's plan. While the pushback from the courts on Trump's ban on people from seven predominantly Muslim countries entering the U.S. might have been unexpected, Bloomberg reported Tuesday that the massive protests were not:

In fact, it was no accident that the order was sprung without warning on a Friday afternoon. Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon arranged the timing in the expectation that opponents, freed from work on the weekend, would stage huge protests — drawing maximum attention and galvanizing Trump supporters as the president followed through on a controversial campaign promise, says a senior administration official. [Bloomberg]

That's far from the only plan Bannon and senior policy adviser Stephen Miller have cooked up. Both Trump advisers are pushing the president to "undertake a radical recasting of U.S. policies, from immigration to trade to taxation, that would invert this frame by making the interests of U.S. citizens (or what Miller and Bannon perceive to be their interests) predominant, almost to the point of exclusivity." Bloomberg noted Miller and Bannon apparently have no qualms making tough choices about refugees, so long as Americans can hang onto American jobs.