WASHINGTON • Mr Stephen Bannon's apology for his comments trashing Mr Donald Trump's family did little to tamp down the President's anger at his former chief strategist, as aides describe Mr Trump demanding a stark choice from supporters of both men: You're either with Bannon, or with me.
Mr Trump's aides are tracking who came out with full-throated criticism of Mr Bannon over the weekend, and they put out the word that the President is keeping score.
Mr Trump remains irritated over losing the first week of the year to titillating excerpts from the book Fire And Fury: Inside The Trump White House by journalist Michael Wolff, which is focused on the President and his purportedly dysfunctional White House.
The book quotes Mr Bannon as saying a June 2016 meeting with a group of Russians attended by Mr Donald Trump Jr and his father's top campaign officials was "treasonous" and "unpatriotic".
Mr Bannon said in a statement released on Sunday that his support for Mr Trump and his agenda was "unwavering".
He did not deny making the comments in the book, but said they were directed at Mr Paul Manafort, Mr Trump's former presidential campaign manager, and were not aimed at the President's son.
"Donald Trump Jr is both a patriot and a good man," the statement said.
"I regret that my delay in responding to the inaccurate reporting regarding Don Jr has diverted attention from the President's historical accomplishments in the first year of his presidency," Mr Bannon said.
He may have hoped his apology would begin to put the episode behind him. But half a dozen sources describe almost the exact opposite.
Mr Trump remains angry and is forcing a him-or-me moment inside Trump World and the Republican Party as a whole.
"I don't know if it's ever repairable," said Mr Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, who has been friends with Mr Bannon for two decades.
The President's top policy adviser, Mr Stephen Miller, on Sunday called Mr Bannon an "angry, vindictive person" whose "grotesque comments are so out of touch with reality".
Mr Miller was once closely aligned with Mr Bannon. As of Sunday night, no one from the White House had directly reached out to Mr Bannon since the fallout, people familiar with the matter said.
Meanwhile Mr Wolff, the author, refuted Mr Bannon's statement in an interview with MSNBC yesterday. "(Mr Bannon's comment) was not directed at Manafort, it was directed directly at Don Jr," Mr Wolff said, adding that he is "grateful" for the time and insights Mr Bannon gave him for the book.
The ugly spat between Mr Bannon and President Trump - Mr Bannon served as campaign chief executive after Mr Manafort was dismissed and was widely credited with helping Mr Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton - has threatened to distract the White House from its policy agenda in an election year.
Mr Bannon had planned to use his continuing clout with the President, along with the Breitbart News Network, to advance his own nationalist agenda, including threatening to try to unseat Republican incumbents who did not support his hardline immigration and anti-globalisation positions.
Now even his outside supporters, including financier Rebekah Mercer who had helped bankroll many of Mr Bannon's initiatives, have distanced themselves from him.
BLOOMBERG, NYTIMES
