There has apparently been a multi-sided power struggle going on inside the West Wing.
However, it is the hardest angle of American politics to read, because it’s all internal. The only clues we have are White House leaks, and none of those can be taken at face value.
But it looks like the main factions are:
-
RNC/Pence. Aimed at replacing Trump with Pence, restoring stability and locking down theocracy. Pence, Priebus, Spicer, McMaster, Comey. The least influential faction, and their influence is continuing to decline.
-
Javanka. The mobster/financier’s wing. Jared, Ivanka, Cohn, the Mooch, etc. Aimed at looting the treasury. Now apparently engaging in increasingly open conflict with the…
-
Fascists. Bannon, Miller, Gorka. Plus their friends of Charlottesville infamy. The most dangerous faction, and the one that has the strongest support from the GOP base.
On a surface reading, today was a win for Javanka over the Fascists. However, as mentioned: it’s hard to read the undercurrents. There’s a lot of kayfabe and deliberate media manipulation in play.
Bannon’s move back to Breitbart was apparently pre-planned, and may have been at Bannon’s own instigation. It’s certainly useful to the administration; it substantially deflects the heat they’ve been drawing for Charlottesville, which was beginning to look like it might inspire ordinary people to action.
