The war inside the White House

“I like Steve, but you have to remember he was not involved in my campaign until very late. 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.” – Donald Trump remarks to the New York Post on April 11, 2017

Do you ever wonder why everything inside the White House seems to be in total disarray? Why policies are held up in court or simply fail? Why there has been a flip-flop on campaign rhetoric from NATO to the Chinese? Why hundreds of key positions remain unfilled? Why the annual Easter Egg Roll almost didn’t happen? There is a war inside the White House and the battle is spilling out on to the streets and neighborhoods of Mr. and Mrs. Deplorable.

If you are interested in seeing the reaction of Trumps base to his neutering of Steve Bannon Google search #keepbannon or #firekushner.

Steve Bannon makes no bones about his ideology, he is a nationalist, America first, better still, America only. If he had his way the Mexican wall would extend to the border with Canada as well. Donald Trumps comment above minimize Bannon’s influence. Yes he beat the “senators and all the governors” before Bannon’s arrival but he beat them by being a contrarian. He was ugly, rude and a bully and for whatever reason a segment of the population ate that up. But once all the “senators and all the governors” fell he had to craft a message and Bannon was the architect of that message. Make no mistake about that.

Yes, he won the election, which he reminds us of every time he opens his mouth, but he hasn’t won the hearts of the vast number of Americans and that crushes his ego. His approval rating is basically his die-hard fan base of 35 +/- %. But the people who voted for him because of the big “R” next to his name are second guessing their decision now and it shows in his poll numbers. For me the reasoning is simple, most sane and rational Americans understand that the populist, nationalist ideology does not play well in the sandbox known as the world economy. North Korea proves that point everyday. America, as a country, can’t be isolationist no more than you or I can. Get off the grid? We invited the freaking grid.

Steve Bannon is the least of this administrations overall problems, but as I have written before he is trouble (Steve Bannon posts). If Bannon, Stephen Miller and Kellyanne Conway are neutralized Trumps message and hopefully direction can and should become more focused and dare I say, mainstream. But he still has a big issue, the biggest issue, the Russians and getting rid of Steve Bannon won’t make that black cloud hanging over the White House go away. Who knows, maybe Bannon could shed a little light on the Russian situation.

“Things will work out fine between the U.S.A. and Russia. At the right time everyone will come to their senses & there will be lasting peace!” – Donald Trump tweet, April 13, 2017