Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon was reportedly warned to stop blasting senior adviser Jared Kushner or risk being blasted by Trump.

Axios reported that one ally to both Bannon and Trump relayed a White House message that the former chief strategist needed to "knock it the f--- off."



Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon was warned to lay off senior adviser Jared Kushner or risk the wrath of President Donald Trump, Axios reported Friday.

Allies made the warnings to Bannon for weeks, the publication noted, adding that America First Policies chairman Tommy Hicks "relayed a message from the White House to Bannon to 'knock it the f--- off'" or be lambasted by Trump. Republican operative Arthur Schwartz additionally warned Bannon to ease off of his public criticism of Kushner.

Both declined comment to the publication.

Following the publishing of excerpts from Michael Wolff's bombshell book "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House," which Bannon is quoted extensively in, Trump did exactly what allies reportedly told Bannon he would.

After Bannon was quoted as saying that Kushner and Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., conducted what amounted to a "treasonous" meeting with Russian lobbyists at Trump Tower in June 2016, Trump released a scorched-earth statement saying that Bannon had "lost his mind" and later took to calling Bannon "Sloppy Steve" on Twitter.

Bannon had earlier participated in an interview with Vanity Fair in which he was highly critical of Kushner, laying blame on him for the Russia investigation.