Bannon declares end of Trump presidency ‘that we fought for’

‘POPULIST HERO’ Ousted White House chief strategist rejoins rightwing publication Breitbart News

WASHINGTON: Ousted from the post of White House chief strategist in yet another churn of personnel, Stephen Bannon told a conservative news publication on Friday that the “Trump presidency we fought for, and won, is over”.

Bannon, who headed the isolationist nationalist wing of the administration and was its key far-right figure, then went back to Breitbart News – a publication he had headed before joining the Trump campaign. He chaired the evening news meeting, a standard newsroom practice across the world, amid speculations if he will go after the President or those around him.

The far-right publication celebrated his return, terming him as a “populist hero” in an article that had editor-in-chief Alex Marlow saying: “The populist-nationalist movement got a lot stronger today. Breitbart gained an executive chairman with his finger on the pulse of the Trump agenda.”

Bannon himself was more expansive in the interview with conservative publication The Weekly Standard. “The Trump presidency that we fought for, and won, is over,” he said. “We still have a huge movement, and we will make something of this Trump presidency. But that presidency is over.”

For now, he blamed “the West Wing Democrats” for the president’s failure to implement his programme.

Bannon said Trump’s ability to pursue his agenda — “like economic nationalism and immigration” — and “his ability to get anything done — particularly the bigger things, like the wall, the bigger, broader things that we fought for, it’s just gonna be that much harder” with his exit.

The White House announced Bannon’s ouster earlier on Friday, confirming speculation in the media. “White House chief of staff John Kelly and Steve Bannon have mutually agreed today would be Steve’s last day,” it said.