Clipping Chief White House Strategist Stephen Bannon’s wings, 70-year-old President Donald Trump removed his 63-year-old firebrand from the National Security Council. When Bannon’s friend National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn resigned Feb. 13, replaced by Gen. H.R. McMaster, there was no need for the controversial figure to stay on the Council. Bannon knows little of national security, with no real justification to serve on the Council. With Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford and Dan Coats, Director of National Intelligence, on the Council, Bannon was out-of-place. Once McMaster accepted the post Feb. 20, he wanted his own crew, certainly not part of Flynn’s old guard. Flynn, and his son Michael G. Flynn who resigned from the transition team Dec. 6, 2916 for concocting fake news stories, were both seen as lose cannons.
Bannon was part of Flynn’s old order and no longer needed on the National Security Council. Since appointed to the National Security Council, Bannon’s been a lightening rod for the media, highlighting his controversial positions, especially on the Russian reset. While there’s little doubt about Bannon’s contribution to Trump’s unexpected win Nov. 8, there was plenty of doubt about his presence on the NSC. Getting off the NSC, Bannon’s expected to have a more backseat role in major decision-making, especially when it comes to foreign policy. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, thought it was helpful to see Bannon off the NSC. Schiff has been leading voice pushing former Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Campaign Chairman John D. Podesta’s theory that Trump colluded with Russian President Vladimir Putin to win the election.
More partisan than most House Democrats, Schiff’s in no position to comment objectively about Bannon’s ouster. “As the administration’s policy over North Korea, China, Russia and Syria continue to drift, we can only hope this shake-up brings some level of strategic vision to the body,” said Schiff, making more disparaging comments. Trump’s policy toward North Korea, China, Russia and Syria can hardly be called “drifting,” attesting to Schiff taking a cheap political shot. If there’s any problem on the National Security Council, it was during the Obama administration, where some suspect that National Security Advisor Susan Rice used the national security apparatus for political purposes to help defeat Trump. Schiff’s the last one to acknowledge that Rice “unmasked” untold numbers of Trump campaign personnel, who Rice insists were caught up in “incidental” surveillance.
Serving as a lightening rod to disgruntled Hillary supporters like Schiff, Bannon created controversy wherever he’d go. Serving on the NSC only brought bad chemistry to the body commissioned with protecting the U.S. homeland. Trump’s NSC staff have a lot on their plate with Chinese President Xi Jinping meeting Trump April 6 at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago golf resort in Miami. With North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un threatening nuclear war with the U.S. and its allies, Trump’s got much work to do bringing China on board. Trump wants China to put the hammer down on Kim, something they haven’t done in the past, when North Korean detonated nuclear bombs and fired off guided missiles. Responding to Trump’s warning that “all options were on the table,” China hasn’t supported the U.S. position. China’s already irked by the U.S. installing missile defense in South Korea.
Bannon’s removal from the NSC was more of a formality, since most chief political strategists aren’t part of the national security body. When you consider why Flynn resigned from the NSA, it’s even more important that H.R. McMaster gets a handle the kind of leaking that exposed Flynn’s unannounced meeting and conversation with Russian Amb. Sergey Kislyak “I didn’t leak nothing to nobody,” said former National Security Advisor Susan Rice. Rice’s been accused to “unmasking unknown numbers of Trump officials before the election. She reluctantly admitted that she sometimes needed to know the names of U.S. citizens caught up in so-called incidental collection. Only last week, Schiff and other Democrats on the intelligence committee, rejected out-of-hand that Trump & Co. were subject to surveillance by the intel community since last July, something FBI Direct James Comey admitted March 20.
Anti-Trump broadcast and print media have already explained Bannon’s ouster from the NSC as proof of White House chaos. Instead of accepting it as a positive move, the media sees White House infighting and disarray. Once Flynn resigned Feb. 13, Bannon was no longer needed or wanted at the NSC. H.R. McMaster has his team in place to take control of the 17 intel agencies under Dan Coat’s as Director of National Intelligence. Bannon’s place on the “Principals’ Committee” was replaced by former Texas Governor and now Energy Secretary Rick Perry. Looking at possible chemical attacks in Syria and ballistic missile firings in North Korea, the NSC needs to stay laser focused on pressing U.S. national security issues, especially bringing China onboard to neutralize North Korea. Instead of looking to discredit Trump, the media should be backing attempts to manage U.S. national security.
