What the heck does Steve Bannon do now?
Trump Steve Bannon
( CNN ) This time last year    Steve Bannon  was on top of the world .  He  had shepherded Donald Trump to the most unlikely presidential victory ever .  He  was preparing to go with Trump to the White House as a senior strategist .  He  was the new hot thing .  Bannon  is   suddenly   a man without a friend left in the world . So what ' s  his  next act ? To answer that I reached out to my friend Josh Green   who wrote the incredible Bannon biography " Devil ' s Bargain :  Steve Bannon   Donald Trump    and the Storming of the Presidency ." Our email conversation about all things  Bannon  is below . Cillizza : Josh   as the foremost Bannonologist in the country -- if that ' s not a thing   I am making it a thing right now -- I turn to you for wisdom at this amazing moment .  Steve Bannon  appears to be totally and completely on the outs with Donald Trump    his  political patron   after talking ( at length ) to Michael Wolff for " Fire and Fury ." Trump said that  Bannon  lost  his  mind ! Trump appears to be WAY angrier at  Bannon  than when he actually fired him a few months back . So is this the end of the end ? A seven - year political friendship turned into " Sloppy Steve " Green : What  Bannon  did by talking to Wolff for this book -- and by extension   probably   talking to me for my book -- is pour a can of gasoline over  his  head and light a match .  Trump  appears to have broken with  him  in a way that seems final and ultimate   even tagging  him  with a dreaded nickname   " Sloppy Steve  " which I think we can all admit is pretty fantastic .  Bannon  has been in the doghouse before and come back . I hear that  he  thinks  he  can come back from this   too . We ' ll see ; nothing ' s ever quite impossible in  Trump  ' s world . You can never say never . As  Bannon  has told people in the past   Trump is entirely transactional . But if  he  loses  his  platform at Breitbart News   then it ' s hard for me to see how  he  ' ll be able to wield the kind of influence that I describe in " Devil ' s Bargain  " and that  he  seemed to have regained after leaving the White House last year . Cillizza : Let ' s talk about  Bannon  and Breitbart . There ' s reporting out there they may oust him . And Rebekah Mercer   one of the major financial patrons of Breitbart ( and  Bannon  )  said publicly that she and he are not on speaking terms and she ' s not going to be funding what he does anymore . What ' s weird to me is that it appears Bannon ' s quotes on  Trump  to Wolff have had a far more profound effect on his role at Breitbart -- and in the conservative firmament more generally -- then when he was fired by  Trump  ! After that   he was welcomed as a conquering hero back into Breitbart ! Is it solely the Wolff book ? And is  Bannon  really in danger of losing  his  Breitbart platform ? Green : The reason uber - wealthy people like the Mercers become involved in politics is to exert influence .  Bannon  was an agent of that influence   and the architect . And  he  did   for a time   have a profound influence on American politics that culminated in Trump ' s election .  Bannon  was the real force behind Breitbart ; the head honcho at GAI   which produced the " Clinton Cash " book so damaging to Hillary ' s candidacy ; and a board member at Cambridge Analytica : The reason uber - wealthy people like the Mercers become involved in politics is to exert influence .  Bannon  was an agent of that influence   and the architect . And  he  did   for a time   have a profound influence on American politics that culminated in Trump ' s election .  Bannon  was the real force behind Breitbart ; the head honcho at GAI   which produced the " Clinton Cash " book so damaging to Hillary ' s candidacy ; and a board member at Cambridge Analytica   the data research firm that worked on the Trump campaign So as an investment   Bannon really did pay off for the Mercers like early -' 80s Apple stock . The problem is that effectiveness waned almost immediately upon entering the White House   and that   coupled with his megalomania and his belief that he was the true leader of the nationalist movement   backfired on him big time .  Trump  obviously doesn ' t value him the way that he did a year ago . With the humiliation of Moore ' s loss in Alabama and the devastating quotes in Wolff ' s book attacking  Trump '  s family   there was really no reason to keep him around . And when Trump turns on someone   he really TURNS on them ! Cillizza : I am STUNNED that Bannon ever entertained the idea of a presidential bid . That would   um   never work . But let ' s assume -- just for the purpose of the conversation -- he hangs on at Breitbart . How does he start to rebuild what he ' s lost ? And just for the thought experiment : If Breitbart jettisons Bannon -- where does he go then ? Green : Look   here on planet Earth we ' re all rightly astonished that  Bannon  holds ( held ?) But the psychology would work as follows :  Bannon  has always thought that  Trump  was riding a global nationalist wave that ' d swept across Europe   the UK and now the US .  Trump  embraced that politics --  Bannon  ' s politics -- and got elected . So clearly the ideas resonate in the US . If  Trump  were to decide against running for re - election   Bannon   believing  he  ' s the true carrier of the faith   must ' ve thought   " Why not me ?" Like his ex - boss   he ' s always been a guy with a healthy ego . But if he were to lose the Breitbart platform   it ' s hard for me to envision what vehicle he would use to lead such a movement and how he would fund it . But he ' s not self - fund - a - presidential - campaign rich . So a presidential bid is off . [ Shakes hands   nods   walks away .] BUT   what then does Bannon do ? This guy is a news animal . He appears to be totally obsessed with the media   the battle of ideas between the two parties   all of it . It feels impossible for someone like Steve Bannon to just disappear from   well   anywhere -- especially a world in which Donald Trump is president . Green : In the near term   Bannon does ( and is doing ) what everybody who wants to influence and ingratiate themselves to Trump does : Flatter him with obsequious praise . It shouldn '  t  be lost on anyone that after Bannon called Trump a " great man " on  his  radio show on the evening of  his  own defenestration   Trump quickly learned about it ( probably from a cable TV chyron ) and mentioned this to reporters at the White House pool spray on Thursday . I ' m skeptical it ' ll work . But that ' s the only path back for Bannon that I can imagine . Or   heck   why doesn ' t he run for president ? It ' s an automatic way to get in front of the cameras and spread a message .
( CNN ) This time last year    Steve Bannon  was on top of the world .  He  had shepherded Donald Trump to the most unlikely presidential victory ever .  He  was preparing to go with Trump to the White House as a senior strategist .  He  was the new hot thing .  Bannon  is   suddenly   a man without a friend left in the world . So what ' s  his  next act ? To answer that I reached out to my friend Josh Green   who wrote the incredible Bannon biography " Devil ' s Bargain :  Steve Bannon   Donald Trump    and the Storming of the Presidency ." Our email conversation about all things  Bannon  is below . Cillizza : Josh   as the foremost Bannonologist in the country -- if that ' s not a thing   I am making it a thing right now -- I turn to you for wisdom at this amazing moment .  Steve Bannon  appears to be totally and completely on the outs with Donald Trump    his  political patron   after talking ( at length ) to Michael Wolff for " Fire and Fury ." Trump said that  Bannon  lost  his  mind ! Trump appears to be WAY angrier at  Bannon  than when he actually fired him a few months back . So is this the end of the end ? A seven - year political friendship turned into " Sloppy Steve " Green : What  Bannon  did by talking to Wolff for this book -- and by extension   probably   talking to me for my book -- is pour a can of gasoline over  his  head and light a match .  Trump  appears to have broken with  him  in a way that seems final and ultimate   even tagging  him  with a dreaded nickname   " Sloppy Steve  " which I think we can all admit is pretty fantastic .  Bannon  has been in the doghouse before and come back . I hear that  he  thinks  he  can come back from this   too . We ' ll see ; nothing ' s ever quite impossible in  Trump  ' s world . You can never say never . As  Bannon  has told people in the past   Trump is entirely transactional . But if [TGT][TGT]  loses  [TGT]  platform at Breitbart News   then it ' s hard for me to see how  he  ' ll be able to wield the kind of influence that I describe in " Devil ' s Bargain  " and that  he  seemed to have regained after leaving the White House last year . Cillizza : Let ' s talk about  Bannon  and Breitbart . There ' s reporting out there they may oust him . And Rebekah Mercer   one of the major financial patrons of Breitbart ( and  Bannon  )  said publicly that she and he are not on speaking terms and she ' s not going to be funding what he does anymore . What ' s weird to me is that it appears Bannon ' s quotes on  Trump  to Wolff have had a far more profound effect on his role at Breitbart -- and in the conservative firmament more generally -- then when he was fired by  Trump  ! After that   he was welcomed as a conquering hero back into Breitbart ! Is it solely the Wolff book ? And is  Bannon  really in danger of losing  his  Breitbart platform ? Green : The reason uber - wealthy people like the Mercers become involved in politics is to exert influence .  Bannon  was an agent of that influence   and the architect . And  he  did   for a time   have a profound influence on American politics that culminated in Trump ' s election .  Bannon  was the real force behind Breitbart ; the head honcho at GAI   which produced the " Clinton Cash " book so damaging to Hillary ' s candidacy ; and a board member at Cambridge Analytica : The reason uber - wealthy people like the Mercers become involved in politics is to exert influence .  Bannon  was an agent of that influence   and the architect . And  he  did   for a time   have a profound influence on American politics that culminated in Trump ' s election .  Bannon  was the real force behind Breitbart ; the head honcho at GAI   which produced the " Clinton Cash " book so damaging to Hillary ' s candidacy ; and a board member at Cambridge Analytica   the data research firm that worked on the Trump campaign So as an investment   Bannon really did pay off for the Mercers like early -' 80s Apple stock . The problem is that effectiveness waned almost immediately upon entering the White House   and that   coupled with his megalomania and his belief that he was the true leader of the nationalist movement   backfired on him big time .  Trump  obviously doesn ' t value him the way that he did a year ago . With the humiliation of Moore ' s loss in Alabama and the devastating quotes in Wolff ' s book attacking  Trump '  s family   there was really no reason to keep him around . And when Trump turns on someone   he really TURNS on them ! Cillizza : I am STUNNED that Bannon ever entertained the idea of a presidential bid . That would   um   never work . But let ' s assume -- just for the purpose of the conversation -- he hangs on at Breitbart . How does he start to rebuild what he ' s lost ? And just for the thought experiment : If Breitbart jettisons Bannon -- where does he go then ? Green : Look   here on planet Earth we ' re all rightly astonished that  Bannon  holds ( held ?) But the psychology would work as follows :  Bannon  has always thought that  Trump  was riding a global nationalist wave that ' d swept across Europe   the UK and now the US .  Trump  embraced that politics --  Bannon  ' s politics -- and got elected . So clearly the ideas resonate in the US . If  Trump  were to decide against running for re - election   Bannon   believing  he  ' s the true carrier of the faith   must ' ve thought   " Why not me ?" Like his ex - boss   he ' s always been a guy with a healthy ego . But if he were to lose the Breitbart platform   it ' s hard for me to envision what vehicle he would use to lead such a movement and how he would fund it . But he ' s not self - fund - a - presidential - campaign rich . So a presidential bid is off . [ Shakes hands   nods   walks away .] BUT   what then does Bannon do ? This guy is a news animal . He appears to be totally obsessed with the media   the battle of ideas between the two parties   all of it . It feels impossible for someone like Steve Bannon to just disappear from   well   anywhere -- especially a world in which Donald Trump is president . Green : In the near term   Bannon does ( and is doing ) what everybody who wants to influence and ingratiate themselves to Trump does : Flatter him with obsequious praise . It shouldn '  t  be lost on anyone that after Bannon called Trump a " great man " on  his  radio show on the evening of  his  own defenestration   Trump quickly learned about it ( probably from a cable TV chyron ) and mentioned this to reporters at the White House pool spray on Thursday . I ' m skeptical it ' ll work . But that ' s the only path back for Bannon that I can imagine . Or   heck   why doesn ' [TGT] [TGT] run for president ? It ' s an automatic way to get in front of the cameras and spread a message .