WASHINGTON: Steve Bannon, a forceful but divisive presence in President Donald Trump’s White House, is leaving.
Trump accepted Bannon’s resignation on Friday, ending a turbulent seven months for his chief strategist, the latest to depart from the president’s administration in turmoil.
White House spokesman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Friday would be Bannon’s last day on the job.
“We are grateful for his service and wish him the best,” she said in a statement confirming reports of Bannon’s departure.
A combative and unorthodox Republican, Bannon was a key adviser in Trump’s general election campaign, but he has been a contentious presence in a White House divided by warring staff loyalties.
The former leader of conservative Breitbart News has pushed Trump to follow through on his campaign promises and was the man behind many of his most controversial efforts, including Trump’s travel ban and decision to pull out of the Paris Climate agreement.
But Bannon repeatedly clashed with other top White House advisers and often ran afoul of the president himself.
Bannon offered his resignation to Trump on Aug. 7, according to one person close to the adviser.
The resignation was to go into effect a week later, Aug. 14, which was the one year anniversary of when he officially joined Trump’s presidential campaign. It was then held back a few days after the violence in Charlottesville.
But Bannon had been on shaky ground for weeks, and his standing appeared in jeopardy when Trump’s new chief of staff, John Kelly, embarked on a personnel review of West Wing staff. Kelly had indicated to aides that significant changes could be coming, according to an official familiar with Kelly’s plans but not authorized to speak publicly.
The president had also repeatedly diminished Bannon’s role in his campaign in recent remarks and refused to express confidence during an impromptu news conference Tuesday.
“He’s a good person. He actually gets very unfair press in that regard,” Trump said. “But we’ll see what happens with Mr. Bannon.”
The decision whether to drop Bannon was more than just a personnel matter. The media guru is viewed in some circles as Trump’s connection to his base and the protector of Trump’s disruptive, conservative agenda.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow if Steve is gone because you have a Republican West Wing that’s filled with generals and Democrats,” said former campaign strategist Sam Nunberg, shortly before the news of Bannon’s departure broke. “It would feel like the twilight zone.”
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Strategist Steve Bannon leaves Trump’s turbulent White House
Strategist Steve Bannon leaves Trump’s turbulent White House
Russian pensioners turn to soup kitchen as war economy stutters
SAINT PETERSBURG: Dishes clatter, steam bursts from large cooking pots and music is seeping through the bustling chatter of Russian pensioners, hunched over bowls of free meals in a Saint Petersburg soup kitchen.
The general mood is upbeat but the place, at full capacity, is a testament to financial hardships plaguing an ever-increasing number of Russia’s elderly people, struggling to make ends meet as the country’s war economy stutters.
Nina, a 77-year-old retired engineer, said she could no longer go to the supermarket, getting her lunch and dinner from the soup kitchen instead, as she was not able to afford her own groceries.
“I haven’t been to a shop for three years because I don’t have the money. There’s simply no point in going,” she told AFP, her voice resolute but eyes glistening.
“Should I just go, look around and leave?,” she asked.
The cost of living in Russia — particularly in large cities — has skyrocketed in the four years since Moscow launched its full-scale offensive in Ukraine.
Huge spending on the military helped Russia buck predictions of economic collapse, but has pushed up inflation — a headache for the Kremlin which has aimed to shield citizens from the fallout of its war.
Prices have surged by a combined 45 percent since Russia launched its offensive, according to official data.
And though President Vladimir Putin recently hailed a cooling of inflation amid high interest rates, pensioners in the Saint Petersburg soup kitchen say their situation is still dire.
- ‘Poor boys’ -
On a bright winter day, AFP met former accountants, doctors and engineers turning to the free bowls of soup and pasta on offer.
Zinaida, a 77-year-old former paediatrician, told AFP her pension was 26,400 rubles ($345) a month.
“Over the last two to three years, we have seen food prices rise,” Zinaida said, attributing the surge to raising taxes.
In order to plug holes in Russia’s stretched public finances, the Kremlin has tapped the pockets of its citizens, raising the nationwide sales tax from 20 to 22 percent, starting this year.
For many pensioners like Zinaida, juggling monthly expenses has become increasingly tricky.
“By our age, everyone has a whole load of illnesses,” she said, and the medications were “very expensive.”
“You work just to pay for the utilities and the pharmacy. There is almost nothing left for anything else.”
That sentiment is shared by Anna, 66, who, despite a career as a surgeon, said she struggled to pay her bills in retirement.
“When you go to the pharmacy, you start to wonder if you’ll be able to buy anything for lunch.”
The Central Bank, which has hiked borrowing costs in a bid to tame price rises, expects annual inflation to ease to Moscow’s four-percent target only in 2027.
That is just one of the Russian economy’s worsening indicators as the war in Ukraine drags into its fifth year.
Growth slowed dramatically to one percent in 2025, Putin said earlier this week — down from 4.3 a year prior.
But for Tatyana, a former accountant, “it’s only fair that things should get more expensive.”
“We have this war going, with our poor boys there. May God grant them all good health.”
The general mood is upbeat but the place, at full capacity, is a testament to financial hardships plaguing an ever-increasing number of Russia’s elderly people, struggling to make ends meet as the country’s war economy stutters.
Nina, a 77-year-old retired engineer, said she could no longer go to the supermarket, getting her lunch and dinner from the soup kitchen instead, as she was not able to afford her own groceries.
“I haven’t been to a shop for three years because I don’t have the money. There’s simply no point in going,” she told AFP, her voice resolute but eyes glistening.
“Should I just go, look around and leave?,” she asked.
The cost of living in Russia — particularly in large cities — has skyrocketed in the four years since Moscow launched its full-scale offensive in Ukraine.
Huge spending on the military helped Russia buck predictions of economic collapse, but has pushed up inflation — a headache for the Kremlin which has aimed to shield citizens from the fallout of its war.
Prices have surged by a combined 45 percent since Russia launched its offensive, according to official data.
And though President Vladimir Putin recently hailed a cooling of inflation amid high interest rates, pensioners in the Saint Petersburg soup kitchen say their situation is still dire.
- ‘Poor boys’ -
On a bright winter day, AFP met former accountants, doctors and engineers turning to the free bowls of soup and pasta on offer.
Zinaida, a 77-year-old former paediatrician, told AFP her pension was 26,400 rubles ($345) a month.
“Over the last two to three years, we have seen food prices rise,” Zinaida said, attributing the surge to raising taxes.
In order to plug holes in Russia’s stretched public finances, the Kremlin has tapped the pockets of its citizens, raising the nationwide sales tax from 20 to 22 percent, starting this year.
For many pensioners like Zinaida, juggling monthly expenses has become increasingly tricky.
“By our age, everyone has a whole load of illnesses,” she said, and the medications were “very expensive.”
“You work just to pay for the utilities and the pharmacy. There is almost nothing left for anything else.”
That sentiment is shared by Anna, 66, who, despite a career as a surgeon, said she struggled to pay her bills in retirement.
“When you go to the pharmacy, you start to wonder if you’ll be able to buy anything for lunch.”
The Central Bank, which has hiked borrowing costs in a bid to tame price rises, expects annual inflation to ease to Moscow’s four-percent target only in 2027.
That is just one of the Russian economy’s worsening indicators as the war in Ukraine drags into its fifth year.
Growth slowed dramatically to one percent in 2025, Putin said earlier this week — down from 4.3 a year prior.
But for Tatyana, a former accountant, “it’s only fair that things should get more expensive.”
“We have this war going, with our poor boys there. May God grant them all good health.”
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