Exit won’t end Trump’s White House chaos
approach that pits staff against one another, openly antagonises outside allies, and leaves little room for the painstaking work of governance.
In any other White House, Bannon’s departure as chief strategist on Saturday would serve as a reset for the Administration. It’s the boldest stroke in Chief of Staff John Kelly’s attempt to impose order on a White House divided into warring camps. And it would appear to give a boost to those within the White House who opposed Bannon’s hardline anti-trade instincts, military isolationism, and hostility to the federal bureaucracy.
Bannon, 63, as executive chairman of the conservative website Breitbart News, will now take his battle to the outside — where the President and his advisers will have no control over his message. Kurt Bardella, a Republican communications specialist who worked for Bannon at Breitbart but later denounced him, predicted the strategist would “feel liberated. Now, he will be able to operate openly and freely to inflict as much damage as he possibly can on the ‘globalists’ that remain in the Trump Administration”.
Charlottesville underscores why the reset is likely to be only symbolic. The episode was an authentic representation of Trump. The President is naturally inclined to stake out politically incorrect positions and serially unwilling to apologise for missteps. His electoral victory has left him with the impression he’s unlikely to pay any political cost for stoking outrage. He’s been unable, though, to replicate his surprise electoral success in Washington, where the lawmakers and establishment interests he enjoys alienating control important levers of power. There’s little about Bannon’s departure that will help pass an Obamacare repeal, a tax overhaul, or a US$1 trillion infrastructure plan. Nor will the departure convince lawmakers to support the agenda of a president with low poll ratings.
Trump could now be vulnerable to “globalists” who promote policies that could alienate elements of his base. “Trump’s voters may get upset that America’s not being made great again,” said former Trump adviser Sam Nunberg. “We’ll find out.”