President Trump’s public warning to Steve Bannon set off alarm bells in the White House and stoked speculation that the chief strategist is on his way out the door.
In an exclusive interview with The Post’s Michael Goodwin, Trump declined to voice confidence in Bannon, who reportedly has been the source of White House infighting.
Bannon allies in the White House were blindsided by Trump’s remarks and “are distraught,” according to a report this morning from Axios.
MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough — whose “Morning Joe” show is frequently watched by the president — said Bannon had been trying to plant false stories about Kushner in the press.
“He’s constantly leaking across Washington, DC, about how important he is to Donald Trump and then he started attacking Jared Kushner and now he’s about to get kicked out of the White House,” Scarborough said Wednesday.
In the Post interview, Trump downplayed Bannon’s importance.
“I like Steve, but you have to remember he was not involved in my campaign until very late,” Trump said. “I had already beaten all the senators and all the governors, and I didn’t know Steve. I’m my own strategist and it wasn’t like I was going to change strategies because I was facing crooked Hillary.”
He added: “Steve is a good guy, but I told them to straighten it out or I will.”
http://nypost.com/2017/04/12/bannon-allies-blindsided-by-trumps-remarks/