I wrote about Trump v. Bannon for Politico today:
Steve Bannon just got Jeff Flaked.
The former Trump strategist who has been on a chest-thumping tour vowing to defeat any Republican officeholder insufficiently loyal to Donald Trump got savagely attacked by the president for his insufficient loyalty.
Nothing with Trump is final. Perhaps he’ll be calling Bannon again soon enough. But Trump has dealt a severe blow to a man who has built a brand upon being the ultimate Trumpist, waging perpetual #war against the establishment for the good of his liege lord in the White House.
Bannon finds himself in the position of a parish priest who has been roundly denounced by the pope. Whose claim to represent the true faith is more likely to stand up?
This is the crux of the matter: Bannon thinks he created Trump, and Trump thinks he created Bannon. They had a fundamental disagreement about who was using whom, and in any such conflict, the president of the United States is going to win.