The #Donald Trump Oval Office was always going to be an unorthodox Administration. The election of a President with no previous experience in government, diplomacy or the military meant that the country was going to see an Administration that was going to require staff capable of advising the newly elected President on the intricacies of running a country. For this reason the choice of former Breitbart News chief Steve Bannon as the White House’s Chief Strategist Steve Bannon added controversy to the unorthodoxy.
Alienating
#Steve Bannon is a man who alienates others.
He is considered a white supremacist by some, directly racist by others and he gives no doubt that he believes that government should play as small a role in the daily lives of citizens as possible. This final reason is what makes his choice for the White House controversial.
Since the beginning of his presidential campaign Donald Trump has always favoured Breitbart News, together with Fox News as the inspiration for many of his actions. The contested and often manipulative news favoured by Breitbart was the reason many questioned the presence and role of Bannon in the new Administration.
Any suggestion that the Chief Strategist may not have been an appropriate choice was dismissed by the President but that soon changed with a simple yet revealing television sketch.
Leaks
According to leaks from the White House President Donald Trump was particularly disturbed by a sketch on Saturday Night Live where Steve Bannon was portrayed as the Grim Reaper and at the end of the sketch Bannon sat at the main desk as the President played at a smaller desk to the side.
This sketch revealed a perception of Bannon that would not have pleased a man who is very sensitive to any derogatory comments in regards to his image.
In a world where image and perception are important the sketch was devastating.
Family
Added to the mix acting against the Chief Strategist is also the presence of the President’s son in law Jared Kushner in the White House as an advisor. As Ivanka Trump’s husband began to receive ever more important roles and responsibilities in the Administration the leaks began to give details of arguments and rivalry between the two staff members.
The announcement that Jared Kushner had been appointed to head the new White House Office of American Innovation would not have pleased Steve Bannon who would have seen himself as more appropriate for a position designed to reduce the role of government bureaucracy.
Interviews
As the reports of dissention within the White House continued to leak, President Trump then played in a personal role in the perception that Steve Bannon may not be a permanent member of his Administration.
In an interview this week on Fox Business in reply to a question about the Chief Strategist he stated that while he personally liked Steve Bannon he was his own strategist thus undermining Bannon’s role in the campaign and the Oval Office.
Subsequent reports by the New York Times and the New York Post amongst others further reported comments about Steve Bannon by President Trump in relation to how long he has known him further undermined the former Breitbart head.
Crisis
This disharmony in the White House in the midst of an important diplomatic crisis between the United States and Russia over Syria and which is further complicated by the continuing provocations of the Kim Jong-un dictatorship in North Korea is not healthy for the White House.
As with the allegations of Russian interference in the presidential campaign, the situation involving Steve Bannon’s role in the White House must be defined publicly.
In the eyes on the Press and also other world leaders the President’s advisors are as much a means of judging the President as his own personal actions.
Any doubt about the staff surrounding the President also casts doubt about the President himself.
It is now up to the man occupying the highest office in the land to make a decision one of his most important advisors and either confirm him in the position and back him unconditionally or replace him with another more capable of fulfilling his role. This decision is one of the painful prices to be paid by those choosing to run for high office and it is unavoidable.
It is now up to Donald Trump to make the final choice.
