Trump comes close to reading death rites for Steve Bannon as he is asked to defend his controversial chief strategist and says: 'We'll see what happens.'

  • President Trump refused to say whether he has confidence in his Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, telling reporters on Tuesday, 'we'll see' 
  • Trump didn't give Bannon much credit for turning his campaign around saying that he didn't come on board until very late 'and I won all the primaries' 
  • News reports and sources inside the West Wing suggest Bannon may be the next top aide to go, with the dismissal possibly coming as soon as Friday  

President Trump refused to say whether he had confidence in his Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, instead telling reporters 'we'll see' when asked about the aide's future White House employment.  

'I like Mr. Bannon. He's a friend of mine, but Mr. Bannon came on very late,' Trump pointed out, noting he beat 17 Republican rivals, 'and I won all the primaries,' before the ex-Breitbart head signed on to the president's campaign.  

A number of news reports and sources inside the West Wing have said the nationalist Trump-whisperer's political hourglass is quickly losing sand. 

The president's remarks at a heated Trump Tower presser added fuel to those rumors as Trump said, 'we'll see what happens with Mr. Bannon,' in regards to his future. 

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At Tuesday's Trump Tower presser, President Trump (pictured) wouldn't say if he had confidence in his Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, instead telling reporters, 'we'll see'
At Tuesday's Trump Tower presser, President Trump wouldn't say if he had confidence in his Chief Strategist Steve Bannon (pictured), instead telling reporters, 'we'll see'

At Tuesday's Trump Tower presser, President Trump (left) wouldn't say if he had confidence in his Chief Strategist Steve Bannon (right), instead telling reporters, 'we'll see'  

Bannon was Trump's campaign CEO who was widely credited with arranging the president's marriage to millions of angry white working-class voters last year

Bannon was Trump's campaign CEO who was widely credited with arranging the president's marriage to millions of angry white working-class voters last year

CBS News reported Monday night that the axe could fall as soon as Friday on the man credited with arranging the president's marriage to millions of angry white working-class voters last year. 

On Tuesday, when Bannon's name was brought up, Trump quickly said it wasn't his chief strategist who advised him on the Charlottesville situation.  

'I never spoke to Mr. Bannon about it,' Trump said. 

While not giving Bannon credit for his election win, Trump also noted that his adviser is 'not a racist.' 

'I can tell you that, he's a good person,' Trump said, adding that Bannon often gets an unfair shake.  

'But he's a good person and I think the press treats him, frankly, very unfairly,' the president added.    

The former Breitbart News executive chairman was once an equal partner in a ruling triumvirate of deputies that included Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner.

But Priebus's star ran out of fuel last month. And his successor John Kelly is a no-nonsense retired Marine Corps general seen as a walking antidote to the chaos that marked Trump's first half-year in office.

That prescription could oust a man known more for his Machiavellian streak than for playing well with others.

Fellow nationalist Sebastian Gorka is seen as possible next domino to fall as new chief of staff tries to bring order to the West Wing

Fellow nationalist Sebastian Gorka is seen as possible next domino to fall as new chief of staff tries to bring order to the West Wing

Also looking over his shoulder is Sebastian Gorka, a hard-charging former Brietbart writer who speaks for the White House on terrorism and national security matters despite having no role with the National Security Council.

The Hill reported Tuesday that the administration has been slow to defend Gorka, but that National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster has so far been unable to sideline him. 

Bannon has been accused of leveraging his relationships in the conservative media to undermine McMaster and National Economic Council chair Gary Cohn.

And he has feuded endlessly with Kushner, whose family ties with the president gave him a natural and undeniable leg up in any squabble.

President Trump has shown no public indication about whether Bannon has worn out his welcome.

Bannon himself did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. 

On Tuesday Bannon's closest associates at the White House denied that he's on the outs, even as The New York Times reported that he's been placed in a sort of 'internal exile' without any precious presidential face-time. 

'He never expected to be here forever. That much is true,' one aide told DailyMail.com on Tuesday, reacting to the Times' description of Bannon's fading fortunes.

'But it's not like his people are opening packages of banker's boxes' to collect their things, the source cautioned.

A second White House aide said flatly: 'Steve's staying' – but wouldn't elaborate.

The dissenting views are an indication of how warring factions in the White House can put contradictory spin on power struggles. 

During an appearance on CBS' Late Show with Stephen Colbert, former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said Bannon should get his walking papers

During an appearance on CBS' Late Show with Stephen Colbert, former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said Bannon should get his walking papers

North Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Meadows, who chairs the conservative House Freedom Caucus, cautioned to the Times that right-wing America sees Bannon as its eyes and ears at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Without the 63-year-old swashbuckler, he said, 'there is a concern among conservatives that Washington, D.C., will influence the president in a way that moves him away from those voters that put him in the White House.'

Bannon and Gorka are the heart of the Trump administration's intersection with the 'alt-right,' a conservative fringe that has become an easy target because of its uneasy mingling with white supremacist and anti-Semitic influences.

'If he doesn't want this to consume his presidency, he needs to purge anyone involved with the alt-right,' former Ted Cruz campaign spokesman Rick Tyler told The Hill.

'Breitbart has become a pejorative ... You can't allow the Oval Office to be a vehicle for the alt-right.'

The Times also reported that media mogul Rupert Murdoch, the CEO of Fox News, has urged Trump to cut Bannon loose.

Murdoch made his comments about Bannon during dinner with Trump, new White House chief of staff Gen. John Kelly, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner at Trump's private golf club on August 4, according to the Times.

During the dinner, Trump vented about his frustrations with Bannon and did not push back.

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch reportedly urged Trump to fire Bannon and the president offered no pushback

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch reportedly urged Trump to fire Bannon and the president offered no pushback

Bannon and Trump, pictured on the third day of the president's term in office, were once inseparable but are now estranged 

Bannon and Trump, pictured on the third day of the president's term in office, were once inseparable but are now estranged 

During an appearance on CBS' Late Show with Stephen Colbert, former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci discussed if he thought Bannon was 'a leaker' in the White House.  

'I said he was, and I obviously got caught on tape saying he was, so I have no problem saying that,' Scaramucci replied.

'If it was up to me, he would be gone,' continued Scaramucci. 'But it's not up to me.'

Asked if he believed Bannon was a white supremacist, a passive-aggressive Scaramucci replied: 'I don't think he's a white supremacist though I've never asked him.'

'What I don't like is the toleration of it, for me it's something that should not be tolerated.' 

This is not the first time Scaramucci expressed his feelings over Bannon, who previously called Breitbart a 'platform for the alt-right.'

Over the weekend Scaramucci blamed Bannon's ideology for some of the president's recent missteps, including Trump's response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday.

The president initially condemned the Saturday incident as an 'egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides – on many sides,' a phrase that led some to believe he was tacitly supporting racism.

But on Monday, under pressure from critics, Trump said that 'racism is evil' and described members of the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and white supremacists who take part in violence as 'criminals and thugs.' 

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called for Trump to fire Bannon anyway.

'If the president is sincere about rejecting white supremacists, he should remove all doubt by firing Steve Bannon and the other alt-right white supremacist sympathizers in the White House,' said Pelosi in a statement Monday. 

She described Bannon as 'shameless enforcer of those un-American beliefs.' 

Bannon denied in interviews given shortly after Trump's election win last year that his political beliefs are racist.

'I'm not a white nationalist, I'm a nationalist,' Bannon told The Hollywood Reporter in November. 

He explained that his positions have been misinterpreted and are pegged to economic policies intended to assist the 'American working class.'