You’re fired! President Donald Trump removed his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, from his permanent seat on the National Security Council on Wednesday, April 5.
Bloomberg, which was first to break the news, reported that the president, 70, also downgraded the role of his Homeland Security Adviser, Tom Bossert. Citing a regulatory filing, the outlet noted that Bannon’s title was removed from the list of members of the NSC on Wednesday.
Shortly after taking office in January, Trump demoted National Intelligence director Dan Coats and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Joseph Dunford in order to elevate Bannon, the former executive chairman of the alt-right media outlet Breitbart News, on the NSC’s principals committee. The unprecedented move was lambasted by several members of Congress.
A White House official told Bloomberg that Bannon, 63, was placed on the committee to monitor Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and never attended a meeting. Flynn, 58, resigned from his position after just 24 days in office when it was revealed he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of his communications with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Flynn was replaced by H.R. McMaster, which is why Bannon’s role on the NSC is no longer needed, the White House official said.
A recent Quinnipiac University poll showed that only 11 percent of those surveyed have a favorable opinion about Bannon and 45 percent have an unfavorable one.