Trump says ‘we’ll see’ on Bannon

President Donald Trump won’t say whether he plans to keep Steve Bannon, a top adviser and key campaign strategist, in the White House.

“We’ll see what happens with Mr. Bannon,” Trump said at an impromptu Tuesday news conference where he fielded questions about his confidence in his adviser.

Bannon, the former leader of conservative Breitbart News website, has been a contentious figure in a divided White House and has been viewed as on the outs before. But in recent days, some of Trump’s closest advisers have returned to pressing the president to fire Bannon, who once described Breitbart as “the platform for the alt-right.”

Speaking to reporters in Trump Tower, the president said Bannon is a friend and “a good man; he is not a racist.”

Trump’s less-than-enthusiastic defense called into question Bannon’s own assessment of the situation: He had been telling people that he believed his job was safe, following a conversation in recent days with new chief of staff John Kelly, according to a White House official who demanded anonymity to discuss personnel matters.

Bannon’s supporters say Trump is being pressed about Bannon by advisers such as chief economic adviser Gary Cohn and deputy national security adviser Dina Powell.

Kelly has also expressed concerns to Trump about Bannon, and is said to be particularly angry with a flood of negative stories about national security adviser H.R. McMaster that some in the White House believe are being leaked by Bannon.