Donald Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon has said he regrets comments labelling the president's son's actions as "treasonous." Bannon added that his comments were aimed at campaign advisor Paul Manafort.
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Steve Bannon, a former top aide to US President Donald Trump, sought to make amends with the White House on Sunday, after incendiary comments aimed at the president's son led to him being condemned and mocked by his erstwhile political allies.
After accusing Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, of committing treason by meeting a Kremlin-linked Russian lawyer, Bannon reversed his comments by reaffirming his support for the administration and praising Trump Jr as "both a patriot and a good man."
He added that a prosecutors' probe into possible collusion between Trump campaign officials and the Kremlin would "crack Don Junior like an egg on national TV."
Despite backtracking, Bannon stopped short of denying the comments.
'Manafort at fault'
Bannon sought to clarify his remarks, saying on Sunday that they were directed at former Trump campaign advisor Paul Manafort, who also attended the June 2016 meeting between Trump Jr and the Russians.
"My comments were aimed at Paul Manafort, a seasoned campaign professional with experience and knowledge of how the Russians operate," he wrote in a statement first published by news website Axios. "He should have known they are duplicitous, cunning and not our friends. To reiterate, those comments were not aimed at Don Jr."
Bannon, who since leaving the White House has returned to the right-wing news site Breitbart as an editor, added that he regretted the delay in responding to the quotes and for having "diverted attention from the president's historical accomplishments in the first year of his presidency."
'Fire and Fury': A look inside Donald Trump's White House
Even before publication, a new book by American journalist Michael Wolff has triggered anger in Washington. Based on interviews with high-ranking officials and Trump himself, it offers a rare view into the White House.
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'Fire and Fury'
Excerpts published by US and British news outlets from American journalist Michael Wolff's new book "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" about US President Donald Trump's administration have offered a look into the inner workings of the White House. From finding comfort in McDonald's hamburgers to Ivanka's presidential dreams, here are some excerpts from the book.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/B. Camp
'Melania was in tears'
"Shortly after 8 p.m. on Election Night, when the unexpected trend – Trump might actually win – seemed confirmed, Don Jr. told a friend that his father, or DJT, as he calls him, looked as if he had seen a ghost. Melania was in tears – and not of joy. There was, in the space of little more than an hour ... a befuddled Trump morphing into a disbelieving Trump and then into a horrified Trump."
Image: picture-alliance/AP/V. Mayo
Ivanka Trump the 'first woman president'?
"Balancing risk against reward, both Jared (Kushner) and Ivanka decided to accept roles in the West Wing over the advice of almost everyone they knew ... Between themselves, the two had made an earnest deal: If sometime in the future the opportunity arose, she'd be the one to run for president. The first woman president, Ivanka entertained, would not be Hillary Clinton; it would be Ivanka Trump."
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Finding comfort in fast food
"He had a longtime fear of being poisoned, one reason why he liked to eat at McDonald's – nobody knew he was coming and the food was safely pre-made."
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Bannon's theories
"The real enemy, (Bannon) said, was China. China was the first front in a new Cold War. China's everything. Nothing else matters. We don't get China right, we don't get anything right. This whole thing is very simple. China is where Nazi Germany was in 1929 to 1930. The Chinese, like the Germans, are the most rational people in the world, until they're not."
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Bannon: Donald Jr. was 'treasonous'
"(Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner and campaign manager Paul Manafort) thought it was a good idea to meet with a foreign government inside Trump Tower in the conference room on the 25th floor – with no lawyers … Even if you thought that this was not treasonous, or unpatriotic, or bad shit, and I happen to think it's all of that, you should have called the FBI immediately," Bannon said.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/C. Kaster
'Losing was winning'
"Once he lost, Trump would be both insanely famous and a martyr to Crooked Hillary. His daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared would be international celebrities. Steve Bannon would become the de facto head of the tea-party movement ... Melania Trump, who had been assured by her husband that he wouldn't become president, could return to inconspicuously lunching. Losing was winning."
Image: picture-alliance/AP/B. Anderson
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Isolated figure
Since the remarks became public last week, Bannon has found himself abandoned by financial patrons and mocked by the president himself.
On Saturday, Trump accused Wolff of using Bannon to publish what he has dismissed as false reporting. "He used Sloppy Steve Bannon, who cried when he got fired and begged for his job," the president posted on Twitter. "Now Sloppy Steve has been dumped like a dog by almost everyone. Too bad!"
On Sunday, Trump continued his assault on Wolff and his book, which depicts the president as a mentally unstable and ill-informed man-child who never wanted to win the presidency in the first place.
Trump tweeted Sunday that the "Fire and Fury" was a "Fake Book, written by a totally discredited author."
Trump's senior policy adviser Stephen Miller also appeared on broadcaster CNN to dismiss Wolff as a "a garbage author of a garbage book," and assail Bannon as "vindictive" and "out of touch with reality."
