New York Post

Bannon fodder

Post’s prez Q&A spooks WH allies

- By MARISA SCHULTZ

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, the president declined to voice confidence in Bannon (inset), who reportedly has been the source of White House infighting with Trump’s sonin-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner.

Bannon allies in the White House were blindsided by Trump’s remarks and are “distraught,” according to a report Wednesday from Axios.

As the White House power center shifts to more centrist figures — Kushner, Ivanka Trump and economic adviser Gary Cohn — conservati­ve Bannon fans are lashing out.

Cohn appeared alongside Trump Tuesday in a meeting with CEOs on restructur­ing government. Bannon allies believe Cohn’s been undercutti­ng the former Breitbart executive.

They refer to Cohn now as “Globalist Gary” or CTC (Carbon Tax Cohn).

Joe Scarboroug­h — whose MSNBC show “Morning Joe” is said to be appointmen­t viewing for the president, said Bannon has been trying to plant false stories about Kushner.

“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 on Wednesday morning’s show.

Later in the day, Fox Business Network reported that people close to Bannon say he will accept a smaller role at the White House and “work things out” with Kushner.

In The Post’s 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.”

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