Everyone on both sides of the aisle was more than a little surprised when it was reported that Donald Trump fired top aide Steve Bannon. Despite the shakeup, Bannon is far from ousted from politics, demonstrated by the fact that he immediately returned to the site that he helped make famous. We can surely expect to hear more from him in the future.
However, conservatives across the board are now wondering what is going through the head of the president. With many high profile resignations shaking the news cycle, the Trump administration is facing criticism that it cannot keep a team together long enough to accomplish its objectives.
The first question is an obvious one: What did the president and Bannon disagree upon so vehemently that Trump felt he had to hand out a pink slip?
Opinions will vary based on who you ask, but most reputable sources believe the source of the original disagreement between Trump and Bannon came on taxes. Trump is a nationalist, to be sure, but Bannon takes nationalism to conspiratorial levels. He actively makes use of jargon that is usually relegated to Alex Jones about “globalists,” and plans that a few wealthy oligarchs have for centralized domination of the world.
Bannon was also reportedly miffed that he did not receive inclusion into the so called “Big 6” — an informal committee comprised of Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, Steve Mnuchin, Gary Cohn and the top two conservatives on the Senate and House tax committees. This group meets about every two weeks to discuss a complete overhaul of the tax system. Their goal is to come up with a single tax bill that all six individuals agree to before it is brought in front of Congress and Donald Trump himself.
It is well-known that Bannon does not like Gary Cohn. In Bannon’s own words, Cohn is one of the “globalists” who is attempting to hijack Trump’s nationalist agenda. Bannon has also been critical, albeit less directly, of other members of the Big 6 for similar globalist tendencies.
The rank-and-file Republican House member does not have much of a stake in this tax reform plan, which is said to be far to the right of Obamacare reform. However, it is not far right enough for Bannon. This effectively leaves a party stretched between too many solutions, none of which seem to even have the power to pass muster in Congress.
Contrary to popular belief, Bannon never really worked with Trump as a close ally, even as a top advisor. His goals have always been more far reaching than a single presidency. He is looking to do nothing less than completely reform the entire Republican party. Changing the will of the majority in the party is difficult to do when some (most) of your stated opinions are in the definitive minority.
Bannon’s allies include the Freedom Caucus, a group of conservatives on the edge of the Republican party. Initially, Bannon brought this influence to bear over some of Trump’s earliest policies. However, as Trump began to take fire from Democrats and the mainstream media, the Republican party had to move to the center to protect its investment in recent elections. Bannon and the Freedom Caucus began to have a smaller voice. On top of all this, the Breitbart chief also had relatively little influence on Capitol Hill.
One such initiative that speaks to some of the lesser-known legislative battles is the promise Trump made during the election to get America out of the North American Free Trade Agreement. When Bannon’s influence was stronger, Trump’s rhetoric on this topic was red hot. Some pollsters say it was this message that was pivotal in turning Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.
After the election, however, progress on getting the US away from NAFTA stalled. Some of Trump’s other top aides pushed for a renegotiation with Canada and Mexico rather than a full pull out. The president finally decided to renegotiate, and Bannon lost a great deal of steam to Jared Kushner and the aforementioned Gary Cohn.
It is likely that Trump will replace Bannon with advisors who mirror Trump’s current playing field of mid-center-right to mainline right. Trump does not seem like a man to tolerate too many dissenting opinions, and it seems that Bannon’s was just a bit too far out to stay in the White House.
~ Liberty Planet
