In this photo taken April 29, 2017, Steve Bannon, chief White House strategist to President Donald Trump is seen in Harrisburg, Pa. The Campaign Legal Center is complaining in a letter to the White House that Bannon may be illegally accepting outside professional services.(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (AP)
Embattled White House chief strategist Steve Bannon is out at the White House, a source told Fox News Friday afternoon.
A source close to the strategist told the New York Times Bannon had submitted his resignation to the president on Aug. 7, but the announcement was delayed after the protest violence broke out last weekend in Charlottesville, Va.
Bannon’s appointment pitted him against the Republican mainstream, and the controversial adviser’s clashes with other senior West Wing advisers and members of the president’s family have intensified since. More rumors began circulating about Bannon’s imminent departure when John Kelly was named chief of staff in late July.
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Bannon is a right-wing nationalist and formerly the driving force behind conservative Breitbart News, where he was executive chairman before turning to the Trump campaign. As campaign manager, Bannon helped propel Trump to the White House, later playing an instrumental role in Trump’s policy implementation to overhaul free trade deals and crack down on immigration.
His influence is apparent in some key decisions made by the president. For instance, he was a key player at Trump’s June 1 announcement that he would withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement -- one of Bannon’s top policy objectives.
The president first signaled his public dissatisfaction with Bannon in April, declining to affirm his support for the top aide. In a New York Post interview, he downplayed Bannon’s role, declaring, “I’m my own strategist.”
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Earlier this week, Bannon gave a candid interview to a liberal magazine where he slammed some of his colleagues within the administration.
Born in Virginia in 1953, Bannon was a U.S. Navy officer for four years. He studied at Georgetown University and earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Turning toward investment banking, he had a stint at Goldman Sachs before he moved into media financing, helping to launch the sitcom "Seinfeld" and others to popularity.
Bannon then segued into film production, working in Hollywood before shifting to producing independent political documentaries. His films backed former President Ronald Regan, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and the Tea Party movement.
It was through that work he met Andrew Breitbart, a staunchly conservative media entrepreneur who said he wanted to inject news into the cycle that would counter the liberal-dominated mainstream media.
When Breitbart died of a heart attack in 2012, Bannon took over as head of Breitbart News, fueling its rise as a contentious, populist, conspiracy-tinged outlet for right-wing Americans disillusioned with mainstream politics.
Trump briefly addressed the speculation of Mr. Bannon’s removal during remarks with reporters at Trump Tower on Tuesday, stopping short of saying whether Bannon would stay.
“I like Mr. Bannon, he’s a friend of mine,” Trump said. “I like him. He’s a good man. He’s not a racist … but we’ll see what happens with Mr. Bannon.”
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