As President Trump returned to his "working" vacation at his National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, he leaves the White House in different shape than when he last returned. One of these changes was the removal of one of the most toxic figures in the White House, Steve Bannon.

Leaks, reports from the media, and accountability

Bannon was blamed as the source of leaks that had been coming out of the White House which reportedly angered the President. Over the first several months of his presidency, Trump made it a goal to make sure the press was seen as his enemy for publishing stories about him that put him in an unfavorable light.

Often the reporting on the administration has held Donald Trump accountable for the promises he's made, the agenda he's tried to enforce and to provide a play-by-play of that accountability. This reporting has essentially created an ecosystem that relies on its own reports to sustain that accountability.

Accountability for everyone but Trump

There has been endless persistence from the administration to be held accountable where they have pushed back against many of those details. Doing so has created contradictions, deflection and even the creation of "alternative facts." But in a recent report by Axios about the potential removal of the chief strategist titled: "Trump suspects Bannon of leaking, putting job in jeopardy," the perception was that the "Commander in Chief" was already considering Bannon's future at the White House using the same kind of criticism that the press has used on the President and his aides -- the difference being that they have fought and manipulated their way out of criticism from the press but expect that accountability to be applied to the chief strategist.

Bannon's leaks of H.R. McMaster

In this case, the White House wanted Bannon to be held accountable as he is rumored to be behind the leaks to his media outlet Breitbart against the national security adviser who demoted him, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster. Bannon was at the center of the administration's more extremist element who had reportedly created his own "power center" where others with fringe and extremist views could be empowered.

Ideologically both Bannon and McMaster did not see the world in the same way and their distaste for each other was apparently mutual. With the new appointment of Gen. John Kelly as Chief Of Staff, McMaster was given the power to fire more of Steve Bannon's loyalists which made him more of a target.

White House full of bad intentions

What White House officials noticed was that Breitbart was writing hit-pieces on former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus -- which Bannon didn't like. Bannon told Breitbart to stop attacking Priebus as they both seemed to be getting along. Aides felt that the reason they knew Bannon was behind the recent hit-pieces on McMaster was because he hasn't done anything to put a stop to Breitbart's stories -- as he did with Preibus. With the White House reportedly using that kind of logic, it's clear that their strategy of not being held accountable for what they do is full of bad intentions.
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