Steve Bannon said Friday he’s “going to war” against enemies of President Trump, his first public comments since being ousted as the president’s chief strategist.
“If there’s any confusion out there, let me clear it up: I’m leaving the White House and going to war for Trump against his opponents — on Capitol Hill, in the media and in corporate America,” Bannon said in an interview with Bloomberg.
Bannon’s comments are the clearest indication yet he will continue to be a disruptive force in pushing his populist agenda, even though he’s no longer working at the White House.
The former Breitbart News chairman’s controversial tenure in the West Wing was marked by feuds with other senior aides, including Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, daughter Ivanka Trump, economic adviser Gary Cohn and national security adviser H.R. McMaster. {mosads}
The president was said to be unhappy with Bannon’s internal fights and believed he was a “leaker” who spread damaging stories about his adversaries in the press.
Bannon did not mention internal White House rivals in his remarks to Bloomberg, perhaps in an attempt to downplay expectations that he’ll continue to spar with members of the president’s team.
After his ouster, Breitbart editor Joel Pollak tweeted, “#WAR.” Other Bannon allies said he was prepared to battle with the likes of Kushner, Cohn and McMaster in the pages of Breitbart, where he is expected to return.