Steve Bannon Wants to Get Serious

Donald Trump may be furious about the Mueller investigation, but Gabe Sherman reports that Steve Bannon thinks he’s still not taking it seriously enough:

Bannon’s sense of urgency is being fueled by his belief that Trump’s hold on power is slipping. The collapse of Obamacare repeal, and the dimming chances that tax reform will pass soon—many Trump allies are deeply pessimistic about its prospects—have created the political climate for establishment Republicans to turn on Trump. Two weeks ago, according to a source, Bannon did a spitball analysis of the Cabinet to see which members would remain loyal to Trump in the event the 25th Amendment were invoked, thereby triggering a vote to remove the president from office. Bannon recently told people he’s not sure if Trump would survive such a vote. “One thing Steve wants Trump to do is take this more seriously,” the Bannon confidant told me. “Stop joking around. Stop tweeting.”

When Steve Bannon thinks you’re being too outrageous and need to rein it in, things are getting ugly. Sherman also reports that one of his sources tells him that “Dina Powell and Gary Cohn said they’re making sure to leave rooms if the subject of Russia comes up.” In other words: Please don’t subpoena me! I don’t know anything!

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