Steve Bannon, Senior White House Strategist, Resigns

Steve Bannon, a key advisor to Donald Trump and senior strategist at the White House, resigned from his position on Friday. The White House announced that John Kelly, Chief of Staff to Donald Trump, and Steve Bannon agreed that Friday would be Mr. Bannon's last day at the White House. In a statement released on Friday afternoon, August 18, the White House praised Mr. Bannon for his service during his tenure. Earlier, with reports circulating about Bannon's resignation or dismissal, Reuters cited a source close to Mr. Bannon stating that he 'would not resign' and would 'force the White House to fire him.' Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that Mr. Bannon had submitted his resignation on August 7, and it was supposed to be announced this week, but the announcement was delayed due to the violent events in Virginia. Since joining Donald Trump's election campaign last summer, Mr. Bannon was considered one of his close advisors and is credited as the architect of some of the most controversial policies of the Trump administration, including his executive orders on immigration. Before joining Mr. Trump's campaign, he managed the right-wing media outlet Breitbart and had faced various criticisms in recent months, including for the media outlet's previous campaign against Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, and its recent campaign against General McMaster, Trump's National Security Advisor. The involvement of right-wing groups in the violence this week in Virginia also sparked another round of criticism against Steve Bannon and some of his like-minded colleagues in the White House. Additionally, reports indicate that Donald Trump was dissatisfied with Bannon's recent interview with the American magazine Prospect, in which Bannon made comments regarding the approach to North Korea that were interpreted as undermining the President's position on the issue. Bannon himself told the Associated Press that he did not expect his comments on this matter to be published. This week, when asked about Mr. Bannon's fate, Mr. Trump merely noted, 'We'll see what happens to him.' Reuters reported that Mr. Bannon had previously told friends that if he resigned from the White House, he would return to the Breitbart media outlet. In related news, the White House communications director resigned after 10 days, Trump appointed the Secretary of Homeland Security as his Chief of Staff; John Kelly replaced Reince Priebus, and Steve Bannon was removed from the National Security Council.