Donald Trump blasts Steve Bannon for 'phony' new book, claims of 'treasonous' meeting
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US President Donald Trump has blasted his former chief strategist Steve Bannon ahead of the release of a new, unflattering book, in which the former White House insider takes aim the administration's possible Russian connections.
Mr Trump said in a statement that when Mr Bannon was fired from his powerful position in the White House "he not only lost his job, he lost his mind".
A new book by writer Michael Wolff makes a series of claims, including that Mr Trump never expected to win the 2016 presidential race.
An adaptation of Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, published in New York magazine, said Mr Trump believed his nomination would boost his brand and deliver "untold opportunities".
An excerpt published by The Guardian says Mr Bannon described a Trump Tower meeting between Donald Trump Jr and a group of Russians as "treasonous" and "unpatriotic."
In response, Mr Trump downplayed Mr Bannon's influence.
"Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my Presidency. When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind," the President's statement said.
"Steve was a staffer who worked for me after I had already won the nomination by defeating seventeen candidates, often described as the most talented field ever assembled in the Republican party.
"Steve pretends to be at war with the media, which he calls the opposition party, yet he spent his time at the White House leaking false information to the media to make himself seem far more important than he was.
"It is the only thing he does well. Steve was rarely in a one-on-one meeting with me and only pretends to have had influence to fool a few people with no access and no clue, whom he helped write phony books."
AP/Reuters
Topics: donald-trump, world-politics, government-and-politics
