Republican presidents have long been derided by the media as puppets of smarter aides.

Just recall the stories about how George W. Bush was pushed around by top aide Karl Rove. Consider the titles of two books about Rove: Bush's Brain, and The Architect.



Now it is President Trump's turn, and this time it's counselor Stephen Bannon who's portrayed as the puppet master. "President Bannon?" was the headline in a New York Times editorial.

But a new book based on insider accounts is set to reveal a completely different description of the Trump-Bannon relationship, one of an alliance of equals.

Regnery Publishing told Secrets that Bannon: Trump's Rebel in the White House, coming in November, will show how the duo are working together to push through Trump's agenda to shake up Washington.

Author Keith Koffler, the editor of White House Dossier and a former Washington Examiner editor, told us, "The media have tried to spin a narrative that Trump is Bannon's puppet, but I've found that to be wholly inaccurate. Trump is not the caricature even veteran journalists portray, that of a malleable opportunist. Rather, he possesses longstanding ideas that Bannon shares and helps buttress and develop. Their relationship really is an alliance of two men who have similar instincts and share a vision for the future of the country."

Regnery added, "Koffler has been granted exclusive interviews with high profile players from Bannon's inner circle. In the wake of several anti-Bannon biographies coming out in 2017 which are based primarily on outside speculation, Bannon: Trump's Rebel in the White House brings the inside, true story of Bannon's rise from populist visionary to one of President Trump's most trusted advisers."

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com