We suspected the initial reason given for Steve Bannon's departure from the National Security Council was spin. Bizarre and potentially self-incriminating, yes, but still spin.
Last night we started to get a better picture of the situation and things have escalated quickly.
The New York Times reported last night that Bannon threatened to quit if he was removed from the National Security Council, a coup that was allegedly orchestrated by Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. The Times also reported that Trump himself was becoming jealous.
Mr. Bannon resisted the move, even threatening at one point to quit if it went forward, according to a White House official who, like others, insisted on anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Mr. Bannon’s camp denied that he had threatened to resign and spent the day spreading the word that the shift was a natural evolution, not a signal of any diminution of his outsize influence. [...]
Several associates said the president had quietly expressed annoyance over the credit Mr. Bannon had received for setting the agenda — and Mr. Trump was not pleased by the “President Bannon” puppet-master theme promoted by magazines, late-night talk shows and Twitter.
Axios reported this morning that Bannon's allies are planning to leak "bad press" about Jared Kushner in the near future but, if this is what they're referring to, I don't think it's going to help Bannon.
According to White House sources who spoke to The Daily Beast, Bannon regularly refers to Kushner as a "cuck" and "globalist."
Donald Trump’s chief strategist Stephen Bannon has called the president’s senior advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner a “cuck” and a “globalist” during a time of high tension between the two top aides, several Trump administration officials told The Daily Beast.
The fighting between Kushner and Bannon has been “nonstop” in recent weeks, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. It’s been an “open secret” that Bannon and Kushner often clash “face-to-face,” according to senior officials.
It's hard to know which side this is being leaked from. It makes Bannon look like an immature horse's ass but, on the other hand, he probably thinks this makes him look tough and it may be a siren calling on the Breitbart Collective of Fascist Frogs to defend him.
With such a major factional divide in the White House, their ability to guide any sort of policy will be crippled. This can only be good news for Democrats or anyone who would generally favor paralysis over much worse alternatives. They can't fight each other and us at the same time.