'The president's wingman': Absent in the West Wing, Bannon stays close to Trump
By Ashley Parker and Philip Rucker October 21 at 10:26 AM
In the two months since Stephen K. Bannon was shunted from the White House and returned to the helm of Breitbart News, the former chief strategist has declared “a season of war” on establishment Republicans and even worked to help a Senate candidate opposed by President Trump. Yet Bannon and Trump are anything but estranged. Instead, they have remained in frequent contact, chatting as often as several times a week, according to multiple associates of both of them.
Trump usually initiates the talks because incoming calls now are routed through chief of staff John F. Kelly and his disciplinarians. The conversations are dictated by the whims of the president, who dials his former chief strategist when something he reads, watches or hears piques his interest.
When Trump phones, Bannon answers with a deferential “sir,” a nod to respect from a man who shuns hierarchies. They chew over politics, float ideas and catch up on gossip. They also each ask after the other to shared confidants and friends, not unlike teenagers checking to make sure the other is not upset or disapproving.
In one of his many private chats with Fox News personality Sean Hannity, Trump recently asked, “Is Steve still with me?” according to two people familiar with the conversation.
Bannon’s bond with Trump — forged in their shared nativist instincts, us-against-them mindsets and disruptive impulses — by all accounts remains strong, even as their political agendas show signs of diverging heading into the 2018 midterm elections.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-presidents-wingman-absent-in-the-west-wing-bannon-stays-close-to-trump/2017/10/20/85c45c3a-b4e0-11e7-be94-fabb0f1e9ffb_story.html
