![Steve Bannon and John Kelly murals / [Images by Abode of Chaos via Flickr, cropped, resized, edited by @JonMarkDraws, CC BY 2.0]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/8/11/660x290/b_502x220x82/steve-bannon-and-john-kelly-murals-images-by-abode-of-chaos-via-flickr-cropped-resized-edited-by-jonmarkdraws-cc-by-20_1504131.jpg "Steve Bannon and John Kelly murals / [Images by Abode of Chaos via Flickr, cropped, resized, edited by @JonMarkDraws, CC BY 2.0]")
It's been reported and therefore well-known that Trump's chief strategist at the White House, Steven Bannon, has been combative with others he considers to be part a "deep state" bureaucracy of Washington. Much of this aggression has been turned towards Lt. Gen. H.R. McMcaster who took over Gen. Michael Flynn's role in the National Security Council (NSC) earlier in the year. Soon afterwards, the operation to purge the NSC of Bannon and his loyalists began and continued with the recent addition of Gen. John Kelly as the new White House Chief Of Staff.
Bannon's hostile White House
During his first week in his new role, Kelly made it clear during a staff meeting that aides show their allegiances to the institution as well as to the President and not to their own agendas. This effort will no doubt place more restrictions on the way Steve Bannon operates and will further weaken his own agenda.
Most of the infighting is associated with Bannon who has reportedly split the White House between warring factions that are loyal to him and those who have dominated government. Since McMaster removed him from the NSC, he's "had it out" for him and resorted to leaking out information to Alt-Right media outlets that had moved to attack McMaster calling for his removal.
Bannon's creations
But it's also been reported that the chief strategist created his own team where he would be able to create policy decisions for the President, the equivalent of the National Security Council (NSC) since he was removed from the real one. One of these decisions was to try to get the Pentagon to hire former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince to build an army of mercenaries for Afghanistan.
It's been reported that the Pentagon has rejected the decision but there have already been plenty of decisions that have been pushed by the former head of the nationalist Breitbart news service. For instance, from the beginning of Trump's presidency, he was apparently involved in creating executive orders such as the one for the Muslim ban that is still "lingering" with the Supreme Court.
Kelly pivots towards Bannon
According to one report by Politico titled: "Kelly revamping Trump's policy operation after string of failures", Kelly has tried to get aides to "stay in their lanes" and only "tackle policies" that are within the range of their own portfolios. The changes Kelly is looking to make could also test the limits of President Trump who refuses to work under the normal function of making policy decisions.
But the clashes between Kelly and Bannon are clear as the General is already supportive of H.R. McMaster, giving him the okay to get rid of three of the Chief Strategist's loyalists. But because Kelly is not ideological, and prefers to work across the aisle. This will also add to the effort to get the White House back in working order and will naturally weaken Bannon's agenda. It's now been reported that Kelly is aware of the clashing and spent some time at President Trump's Bedminster golf club with aides to lock in on Bannon.
