8/23/2017

Leave of Top Strategist

Newspapers in Japan reported the news of resignation of top strategist for United States President with a sense of surprise. In a series of confusion with false handling of politics, President Donald Trump decided to remove Steve Bannon from his administration, attributing most troubles to the strategist who directed Trump administration to exclusive policies against the minority. Dabbed as President in the Shadow, Bannon is supposed to be leading the campaign against his former boss.

Nikkei Shimbun reported Bannon’s argument that he had been thinking about leaving the administration a year after joining Trump campaign last August. But the newspaper quoted a comment of senior officer in White House, “This is 100% the decision of Mr. Kelly,” indicating the leadership of White House Chief of Staff, John Kelly. “For Kelly who was trying to regain order in White House, which had been in a confusion with Russian scandal or information leaking, Bannon had been a problem child,” Nikkei described.

Bannon has often quarreled with Director of National Economic Council, Gary Cohn, Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, or her husband, Jared Kushner, over economic policy. Bannon dismissed their relatively moderate argument based on free trade and international cooperation, insisting on exclusive and unilateral stance. “We are at economic war against China,” Bannon reportedly said.

Bannon also opposed to Department of State, intervening in diplomacy and security issues. Conflicting with Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, Bannon led the policy of leaving the international framework for dealing with climate change, Paris Agreement. Against White House Security Advisor, H. R. McMaster, who argued necessity of keeping engagement to Afghanistan or Syria, Bannon delivered offensive words through his news site, Breitbart, which upheld white supremacism.

It was obvious that Trump’s neutral position between white supremacists and the protesters against them was affected by Bannon’s consistent viewpoint of extreme unilateralism. It was unrealistic for Trump to keep his top strategist in the administration, if he would want to maintain his Presidency


It is likely for Bannon to set a war against Trump. “The Trump Presidency that we fought for, and won, is over,” told Bannon after the resignation. Bannon has been a strategist for obtaining support from white workers, which consisted of Trump’s political basis. It is possible that Trump will lose his driving force with the lost of his strategist.

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