Update | Trump, claiming Bannon has ‘lost his mind’, sends ex-adviser cease-and-desist letter
President issues explosive rebuttal after former chief strategist says Don Jnr’s meeting with Russians in Trump Tower was ‘treasonous’ and ‘unpatriotic’
Trump said in a statement that “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.”
A lawyer representing Trump also sent a cease-and-desist letter accusing Bannon of violating a non-disclosure agreement by speaking to the author of an upcoming book, US media reported Wednesday.
Excerpts from the book by Michael Wolff that were published on Wednesday sparked a firestorm in Washington.
Bannon was quoted as telling Wolff that a Trump Tower meeting between the president’s son, Don Jnr, and a group of Russians during the 2016 election campaign was “treasonous” and “unpatriotic”.
Bannon also said that Don Jnr would “crack like an egg” under investigation and that Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, was involved in money laundering, according to Wolff’s new book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.
The president was not pleased.