Steve Bannon predicts Todd Blanche fight could be final straw for Trump’s relationship with Thune
This story raises questions about governance, accountability, and American values.
Steve Bannon has been predicting the end of Trump-Thune relations for a while now, so take the "final straw" framing with a grain of salt. But the underlying friction here is real, and it's worth understanding why a fight over Todd Blanche's nomination is the thing that could actually blow it up rather than fade into the usual Senate grumbling. Thune runs a chamber where he needs votes, coalitions, and a certain amount of institutional patience that doesn't always move at Trump's speed or serve his priorities.
New Republican Times Editorial Board
EXCLUSIVE — Steve Bannon is predicting that President Donald Trump’s increasingly strained relationship with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is headed toward an irreparable break, arguing that a showdown over acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination may be the final straw.
Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist and a close outside ally, told the Washington […]
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New Republican Times Editorial Board
Steve Bannon has been predicting the end of Trump-Thune relations for a while now, so take the "final straw" framing with a grain of salt. But the underlying friction here is real, and it's worth understanding why a fight over Todd Blanche's nomination is the thing that could actually blow it up rather than fade into the usual Senate grumbling.
Thune runs a chamber where he needs votes, coalitions, and a certain amount of institutional patience that doesn't always move at Trump's speed or serve his priorities. That's the job. But when the president wants his own acting Attorney General confirmed and Senate leadership starts dragging its feet or hedging, it stops looking like normal legislative friction and starts looking like the same old GOP establishment reflex: slow-walk the guy who actually wants to shake things up.
Whether Bannon's prediction pans out or not, the pattern he's pointing to isn't imaginary. Republican voters sent Trump back to Washington to break things that needed breaking, DOJ included. If Senate Republicans, Thune especially, treat that mandate as an inconvenience to be managed rather than something to actually execute on, they shouldn't be surprised when the relationship with the president curdles. Loyalty runs both directions, and patience has limits.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.