Inside Steve Bannon's Removal: Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner 'Helped Push' Him Out of White House
Steve Bannon‘s White House exit was partially orchestrated by First Daughter and Presidential Advisor Ivanka Trump and her husband, Senior Advisor to the President Jared Kushner, a source with knowledge of the situation tells PEOPLE.
“Jared and Ivanka helped push him out,” the source tells PEOPLE, adding, “Bannon being removed changes everything.”
On Friday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed that Bannon would no longer serve as chief strategist in a statement, saying, “White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Steve Bannon have mutually agreed today would be Steve’s last day. We are grateful for his service and wish him the best.”
The 63-year-old former Breitbart News chairman was named to the role just days after the 2016 presidential election – an appointment met with controversy and concern over his connections to the alt-right movement. Calls for Bannon’s firing were recently amplified following President Trump’s much maligned response to the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Noting that Bannon’s ouster was “done to help salvage the Presidency,” the insider adds that the president has “two to three weeks, in my opinion, to salvage things, or it’s over.”
The aftermath of the president’s headline-making comments – including that there were “a lot of bad people” among the anti-racist counter-protestors at the rally – “there has been tension among the whole family,” the source tells PEOPLE.
“[Ivanka and Jared] have some control, but they weren’t elected President, so it’s difficult,” says the source, adding that they’re concerned about “how they will be seen” by the Jewish community.
A White House source countered that Kushner and Ms. Trump played no role in Bannon’s departure, calling it a recommendation by Kelly and a decision by the president.
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As for the embattled president, the first source, with knowledge of the situation, says that “He finally realizes how screwed he is – but what really affected him was people canceling at Mar a Lago.”
The first source adds, “This could hurt business and he’s a business man.”
The president has yet to publicly address the end of Bannon’s tenure.
