WASHINGTON: Donald Trump parted ways with his controversial chief strategist Steve Bannon on Friday (Aug 18) as the White House reels from the fallout over the president’s response to a violent white supremacist rally. As Bannon became the fifth high-profile casualty in Trump’s…
WASHINGTON: Donald Trump parted ways with his controversial chief strategist Steve Bannon on Friday (Aug 18) as the White House reels from the fallout over the president’s response to a violent white supremacist rally.
As Bannon became the fifth high-profile casualty in Trump’s inner circle in just six months, former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and James Murdoch, son of conservative media tycoon Rupert, added their voices to those criticising the president.
And the woman whose daughter was killed when an avowed white supremacist rammed his car into a group of protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, said she would not meet with Trump.
Trump was at meetings with his national security advisers at the presidential retreat Camp David to discuss the situation in Afghanistan when the White House announced that Bannon was leaving.
Seen as the driving force behind Trump’s nationalist-populist agenda – making him a hero of the so-called „alt right“ and a bete noire for centrists – Bannon’s presence at the White House has been contested from the start.
With Trump under fire from all sides for insisting anti-racism protesters were equally to blame for violence at the weekend rally staged by neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville, the president faced renewed pressure to let go of his firebrand aide.
In announcing the 63-year-old Bannon’s departure, the White House did not specify whether he had resigned or – as was widely reported – been forced out.
„White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Steve Bannon have mutually agreed today would be Steve’s last day, “ spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said. „We are grateful for his service and wish him the best.“
FIVE TOP AIDES OUT
Since taking office in January, Trump has lost five top aides: Bannon, National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, press secretary Sean Spicer, chief of staff Reince Priebus and communications director Anthony Scaramucci.
