Chief strategist Stephen Bannon, once President Trump's right-hand man, is reportedly on thin ice nowadays. NBC News' Katy Tur reported Friday that people close to Bannon — who was booted from the National Security Council earlier this week — say "things are very bad for him" in the White House "right now." Tur said Bannon's allies have advised him to "'lay low' and wait out the storm."
Trump is apparently considering a "major shake-up of his senior White House team" amid growing frustrations with infighting, and "the weight of the president's frustrations appeared to be falling on" Bannon, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. In fact, Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.) predicted Friday that Bannon's "days are numbered in that administration." She said "profound changes will be coming" — as soon as in the next few months. However, a White House official insisted Friday there are "no indications of a staff change."
Already, reports indicate Bannon's power is waning. Daily Intelligencer's Gabriel Sherman reported Friday that Bannon argued against Trump's decision to order an airstrike against Syria on Thursday, claiming it went against Trump's America First doctrine. But Trump went ahead with the strike anyway, apparently at the behest of his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, who is quickly gaining greater clout and responsibility in the West Wing.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The split over Syria is apparently just the latest source of tension between Bannon and Kushner, but Bannon apparently has no plans to exit voluntarily. Sherman reported that "despite his waning influence, Bannon recently told an ally that he won't quit." "If Trump wants him out," Sherman wrote, "he'll have to fire him."
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
-
Florida aims to end all state vaccine requirementsSpeed Read Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to cut vaccine access and install anti-vaccine activists at the FDA and CDC
-
US kills 11 on 'drug-carrying boat' off VenezuelaSpeed Read Trump claimed those killed in the strike were 'positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists' shipping drugs to the US
-
Trump vows to send federal forces to Chicago, BaltimoreSpeed Read The announcement followed a California judge ruling that Trump's LA troop deployment was illegal
