Donald Trump might be getting woke to Steve Bannon's power grab

Donald Trump is angry he was not briefed on the executive order he signed granting unprecedented powers to adviser-puppet-master Steve Bannon, the alleged domestic abuser and Satan-praising, Islamophobic former editor of “alt-right” outlet Breitbart, according to a new report.

From The New York Times:

(For) the moment, Mr. Bannon remains the president’s dominant adviser, despite Mr. Trump’s anger that he was not fully briefed on details of the executive order he signed giving his chief strategist a seat on the National Security Council, a greater source of frustration to the president than the fallout from the travel ban.

Credited as the mastermind behind some of Trump’s most extreme policies, including the Muslim ban, Bannon has told allies he has a limited window to ram through as much of his agenda as possible, the Times added.

This could explain the flurry of slapdash executive orders in the last few weeks. It also means it’s possible Trump didn’t even read what he was signing when he made Bannon a permanent member of the national security council on January 28 while downgrading the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the director of national intelligence to optional attendees.

That stunning move put the disheveled demagogue on par with the defense secretary in the tiny circle of people who exercise broad power over the president’s most consequential decisions, including authorizing the extrajudicial killings of American citizens in secret. It’s also been condemned by officials and experts on both sides of the aisle, who rightly fear a Breitbart troll near any big red buttons. Yet at least one source says Bannon has moved quickly to consolidate his influence, and may already be running a “shadow NSC” with no paper trail.

Trump may be getting woke to Bannon’s open power grab. The Washington Post reported last Thursday the President asked aides what was going on after the latest cover of Time was graced not with his face, but Bannon’s, next to the tagline “The Great Manipulator.” And if Trump watched “Saturday Night Live,” he would’ve seen the skit portraying Bannon as a literal skeleton lord in the commander-in-chief’s Oval Office chair. After the show, instead of the usual angry tweets from the president, there was only silence.