Steve Bannon will be 'loyal soldier' for Donald Trump from outside White House

Steve Bannon will be a “loyal soldier” for Donald Trump from outside the White House, a former Deputy Campaign Manager for the President has said, with Mr Trump taking more criticism over the “chaos” in his administration following his chief strategist’s ousting.

It has been a tough week for Mr Trump as the fallout from his remarks over the violence in Charlottesville last week continues to reverberate across Capitol Hill and beyond. The President did not initially explicitly condemn white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups – whose protest over the removal of a confederate statue led to the killing of a counter-demonstrator as a car drove through a crowd – then later condemned them, only to again flip and say “both sides” were to blame for the violence.

The flood of criticism that greeted this move may have contributed to the timing of Mr Bannon’s removal as Chief Strategist at the White House, but some believe the President now has an important outside ally.

“I do believe that Steve Bannon is going to be a very loyal soldier to the President as it relates to his agenda from the outside now,” David Bossie, a former Deputy Campaign Manager in Mr Trump’s bid for the presidency, told Fox News on Sunday.

Mr Bossie added that Mr Bannon – one of the strongest nationalist voices in the White House who has returned to a job at the right-wing news website Breitbart – would be “an important voice”.

Many Democrats, and a number of Republicans have staunchly criticised Mr Trump for his Charlottesville remarks, with a tumultuous week capped off by the removal of Mr Bannon, with Mr Trump seemingly trying to make amends by applauding thousands of demonstrators who came out onto the streets of Boston against a “free speech rally” organised for Saturday.

Mr Trump tweeted his support for those “speaking out” against bigotry and hate at the Boston march, adding: “Our country will soon come together as one!”

The protest passed off mostly peacefully, with concerns of more violence having meant a heavy police presence. Those behind the rally said they had nothing to do with white nationalists or any other extremist group and were not affiliated with the Charlottesville protests.

But, as a new week begins with another new line-up in the White House, it will take more than a few words to convince those in Congress that such controversies will not damage Mr Trump’s authority, or his party’s ability to get things done.

Republican Ohio Governor John Kasich was one to voice his concerns on Sunday, telling CNN’s State of the Union programme that Mr Trump needed to “settle it down” having dismissed a national security adviser, a chief of staff, two communications directors and a press secretary in his seven months in the White House

“The problem is that when you have chaos among your staff … It is hard to get anything done,” Mr Kasich said, with Mr Trump and the Republicans also yet to claim a major legislative victory.

“You can't keep putting new people in the lineup and think you're going to win a world championship,” said Mr Kasich, who challenged Trump for the GOP presidential nomination. Although he added he was “rooting for” the President to get it together.

Mr Bannon had repeatedly clashed with those seen as more moderate in the White House, including Mr Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Mr Trump’s daughter Ivanka, but Mr Bossie dismissed concerns that divisions within the White House staff were hurting Mr Trump's ability to get his priorities passed.

“In every presidency there are factions. There's no difference here,” Mr Bossie said, instead pointing the finger for the lack of movement on healthcare and other agenda priorities at Congress.

“No one is saying the President is not leading. There's a lack of leadership on one side of Pennsylvania Avenue,” Mr Bossie said.

However, polls released on Sunday showed that job approval rating in three key states that helped propel him to the White House – Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – stands below 40 per cent.

The three NBC News/Marist polls, conducted between 13 to 17 August after the violence in Charlottesville and in the middle of the President’s various responses, show that approval was at 36 per cent in Michigan, 35 per cent in Pennsylvania and 34 per cent in Wisconsin

Asked if Trump’s conduct as President made them proud or embarrassed them, 64 per cent of voters in Michigan and Wisconsin say they’ve been embarrassed, while 63 per cent say that in Pennsylvania.

Representative Adam Schiff, a California Democrat said that he sees “some serious issues” with President Trump’s capabilities that may not get better.

He told CNN: “I certainly think that there’s an issue with the President’s capability. There’s some attribute of his character that makes him seemingly incapable of introspection and a broad understanding of what the country really needs, and I think it’s a question that people are asking, you know, ‘What is going on with this president? What can explain this kind of behaviour?’ ”

Mr Schiff also called for more “cleaning house” from Mr Trump, saying that Senior Policy Adviser Stephen Miller and national security aide Sebastian Gorka shouldn't work in the White House.

“People like Miller and Gorka and others, who not only I think represent the same thing that Steve Bannon did, but aren't capable doing the job well,” Mr Schiff said. “So yes, I think there's more cleaning house that ought to take place.”