When I asked the president Tuesday afternoon if he still has confidence in Bannon, who took over the campaign in mid-August, I did not get a definitive yes.So can Bannon's time in the White House be measured in days? Yes, and I think Monday's Politico story about Trump's obsession with the hundred-day mark hints at exactly how many days Bannon has left:
“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.”
... however real Trump’s frustrations are with the three rival power centers he has installed — chief of staff Reince Priebus, son-in-law Jared Kushner and chief strategist Steve Bannon — top officials inside and around the White House don’t expect Trump to make any drastic changes until after 100 days, lest staff-turmoil stories swamp a key stretch of media coverage.It's infantile to worry so much about hundred-days stories that will be forgotten by Day 110, if not sooner, but that's Trump. April 29 is Day 100. So my guess is Bannon's out on April 30.
But if Bannon's fate is sealed, why doesn't he have the self-respect to quit? He could at least walk out with head held high. Plus, if he's disgusted by the "globalist" direction of the administration, he could begin to get his revenge by spoiling Trump's precious hundred days.
But, as we know from an earlier Politico story, Bannon's patroness won't let him:
Republican megadonor Rebekah Mercer, a longtime Bannon confidante who became a prominent Trump supporter during the campaign, urged Bannon not to resign....Well, it doesn't look like "a long-term play" anymore. C'mon, Steve. Don't be a cuck. Walk out now.
Another person familiar with the situation, a GOP operative who talks to Mercer, said: “Bekah tried to convince him that this is a long-term play.”
Then again, maybe Bannon can't walk out with his head held high because it's physically impossible:
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