In the days before his departure, the Trump guru told associates he was itching for a return to guerrilla warfare.
In the days leading up to his exit Friday, Steve Bannon told associates that he felt profoundly constrained by the limits of the federal government and was itching to return to the outside world. He would be freer there to engage in the kind of militant political combat that catapulted him to national fame and thrust him into the center of Trump’s orbit.
It was time, he told friends, to get ready for “Bannon da barbarian.”
Bannon’s departure from the White House positions him to become a major player on the outside — where he’s certain to push the administration to the right and wage war against the moderate Trump aides he’s long collided with.
Bannon has floated the idea of returning to Breitbart, the bomb-throwing conservative website he formerly led. He is almost certain to link up with hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah, who have long bankrolled Bannon’s political projects, including Breitbart. On Wednesday, two days before he announced his exit, Bannon met for several hours in New York with Robert Mercer, according to two people familiar with the huddle.
Over the months, Bannon and Mercer have stayed in close touch on a number of topics, including Mercer’s decision to invest heavily in the primary campaign to unseat GOP Rep. Jeff Flake, a vocal Trump critic. Some people close to Bannon believe he could oversee the influential Mercer political operation, a perch that would give him access to millions of campaign dollars heading into the 2018 midterms, or launch a Mercer-funded media venture.
His exit comes at a pivotal moment for Trump, as establishment Republicans — the very group that Bannon has long railed against — are distancing themselves from the president. It also comes ahead of a pivotal legislative month, with Congress confronting fights over the debt ceiling and a potential government shutdown.
Bannon has expressed private frustration over how Republican leaders on Capitol Hill are treating Trump. The departed White House strategist has been concerned that Congress will pass a budget that lacks funding for the president’s priorities, including a wall on the southern border.
From a perch on the outside, Bannon reasoned, he could launch attacks on GOP leaders, stir up primary challenges, and rile conservative supporters — “going medieval,” he has said — much as Breitbart did against former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. Bannon can also pressure the White House to allowing a government shutdown if Trump doesn’t get what he wants in a funding bill.
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NEW: BANNON has told friends to get ready for "Bannon 'da barbarian," and is preparing to go "MEDIEVAL" on Hill GOP https://t.co/WLBDUkn7Oq
— Alex Isenstadt (@politicoalex) August 18, 2017
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