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White House: Steve Bannon? Who? Oh, He and Trump Were Never Close.

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‘I’m Not Aware That They Were Ever Particularly Close’ Huckabee Sanders Says

Sarah Huckabee Sanders was forced to defend President Trump once again Thursday afternoon, after excerpts from a bombshell book, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” by journalist Michael Wolff, have dominated the headlines over the past 24 hours. The first excerpts included stunning statements from Trump’s former campaign chairman Steve Bannon, who subsequently became Trump’s White House Chief Strategist. 

As the Trump White House always does when a former official turns against the administration, Huckabee Sanders distanced Trump from Bannon – despite Bannon being so close to Trump he was seen as “Trump’s brain.”

Huckabee Sanders Thursday afternoon told reporters that after a five year relationship, Bannon and Trump weren’t close at all.

“I’m not aware that they were ever particularly close,” she insisted. “It’s not like there were regularly scheduled calls or meetings between the two of them.”

That’s because when people are close they don’t need to schedule a call or a meeting, they just pick up the phone or show up. And Trump’s friendship with Bannon extends farther into the past than his professional relationship with Huckabee Sanders does. 

Many reports in the media say that even after Bannon left the White House last August, he and Trump would speak on the phone frequently.

“The president continues to call business friends and outside advisers, including former chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, from his personal phone when [Chief of Staff John] Kelly is not around,” The Washington Post reported last August.

“Bannon and Trump are anything but estranged,” The Washington Post reported two months later, last October. “Instead, they have remained in frequent contact, chatting as often as several times a week, according to multiple associates of both of them.”

“Trump usually initiates the talks because incoming calls now are routed through chief of staff John F. Kelly and his disciplinarians. The conversations are dictated by the whims of the president, who dials his former chief strategist when something he reads, watches or hears piques his interest.”

Earlier during Thursday’s press briefing Huckabee Sanders lamented that she once again has to tell reporters that questions about Trump’s mental fitness are “disgraceful and laughable.”

Trump is now claiming he will sue Bannon over remarks made in Wolff’s new book.

RELATED STORIES:

Bombshell Report: Trump Didn’t Want to Be President, Was Shocked When He Won, Melania Cried

Trump Scorches Former BFF Steve Bannon: When I Fired Him ‘He Lost His Mind’

Trump to Bannon: I’m Suing You

Trump Tries to Block Publication of Bombshell Book Exposing His Presidency

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‘Massive Shift’: FCC Chair Says Local TV Will ‘Decide What the American People Think’

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September 18, 2025

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Explaining the “massive shift” he intends to impose on the focus of the Federal Communications Commission, Chairman Brendan Carr announced that he will take America back to the era when local television stations shaped what the American people “think.”

“So again,” Carr told Fox News on Thursday, “we’re going back to that era when local TV stations, judging the public interest, get to decide what the American people think.”

“And again, we’re constraining the power through those actions of Disney, of Comcast. And I think the American public can be much better off. But, yeah, I don’t think this is the last shoe to drop,” he said, appearing to refer to the suspension of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel.

READ MORE: Trump Labels Flag Burning, Organized Protests ‘Incitement to Riot’

“This is a massive shift that’s taking place in the media ecosystem, and I think the consequences are going to  continue to flow,” he declared.

On Thursday, speaking aboard Air Force One, President Donald Trump wrongly suggested that broadcast networks, licensed by the FCC, are “not allowed” to criticize him.

“When you have a network and you have evening shows and all they do is hit Trump, that’s all they do — if you go back, I guess they haven’t had a conservative one in years, or something — when you go back and take a look, all they do is hit Trump. They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that,” Trump said.

Carr is one of the authors of The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. President Donald Trump praised Carr as “a warrior for Free Speech,” CBS News reported last year.

There are few “local” television stations left in the U.S., in the sense that nearly all are owned by several major broadcast conglomerates, including Nexstar Media Group, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Gray Television, Tegna, Hearst, and Scripps.

READ MORE: ‘Corrupt Abuse of Power’: Dems Rip FCC Chair Over Kimmel Suspension

 

Image via Reuters

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Trump Labels Flag Burning, Organized Protests ‘Incitement to Riot’

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September 18, 2025

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President Donald Trump, explaining his controversial decision to attempt to label Antifa a terrorist organization, said burning the American flag is an “incitement to riot,” as are organized protests — which he claimed lead to “death.”

“They have signs and they’re all professionally made,” Trump told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum on Thursday, apparently referring to those suspected of celebrating the murder of Charlie Kirk, NBC News reported. “Real protesters make them in their basement.”

After suggesting without offering any evidence that philanthropist George Soros might be behind organized protests, Trump declared, “it’s incitement to riot. That’s a criminal act. And people are dying because of it. So it’s really, you know, it’s death.”

Speaking about his executive order to designate Antifa — which is not an organized group and it does it have leaders — a terrorist group, Trump said, “They are.”

READ MORE: ‘All They Do Is Hit Trump’: President Says Networks ‘Not Allowed to Do That’

Asked, “do you believe that there is a vast terrorist movement in the United States that people need to be aware of, and is it responsible for Charlie Kirk’s killing, for the attempts on your life, for these CEOs that we saw in New York City?” Trump replied, “You never know, and we’ll find out, maybe.”

“But in the meantime, we’re gonna do a big thing with respect to Antifa. It’s a sick group, a very, very sick group.”

“They love burning the American flag. I think it’s terrible that they burn the American flag. And we’re saying it incites riots, and therefore, you go to jail for one year, if you burn the American flag.”

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that it is not illegal to burn the American flag, it is a protected form of free speech.

READ MORE: ‘Corrupt Abuse of Power’: Dems Rip FCC Chair Over Kimmel Suspension

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‘All They Do Is Hit Trump’: President Says Networks ‘Not Allowed to Do That’

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4 hours ago

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September 18, 2025

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President Donald Trump has been claiming that the ABC suspended late night host Jimmy Kimmel because of poor ratings, but he shared a different thought on Thursday about what the future of network television might entail.

“When you have a network and you have evening shows and all they do is hit Trump, that’s all they do — if you go back, I guess they haven’t had a conservative one in years, or something — when you go back and take a look, all they do is hit Trump. They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that,” Trump said, according to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.

The Independent added that President Trump “told reporters on Air Force One as he jets back from his State visit to the U.K. that because he won the election and networks give him ‘wholly bad publicity,’ that ‘I would think maybe their license should be taken away.'”

“It will be up to Brendan Carr. I think Brendan Carr is outstanding. He’s a patriot. He loves our country, and he’s a tough guy,” the president said, referring to the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

READ MORE: ‘Corrupt Abuse of Power’: Dems Rip FCC Chair Over Kimmel Suspension

 

Image via Reuters

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