“They were the first people to put the knife in his back,” former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon said of the Kochs. | Mike Theiler/Getty Images Bannon to Kochs: ‘Shut up and get with the program’ ‘And here’s the program: Ground game to support Trump’s presidency,’ Bannon said in an interview.

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon tore into the powerful Koch political network Sunday, accusing it of undermining President Donald Trump ahead of a midterm election that threatens to derail his presidency.

“What they have to do is shut up and get with the program, OK?” Bannon said in an interview with POLITICO. “And here’s the program: Ground game to support Trump’s presidency and program, [and] victory on Nov. 6.”


Bannon’s comments came as the network of major Republican Party donors, led by billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, convened in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to discuss the 2018 political landscape. During the retreat, top Koch officials described the Trump White House as toxic and destructive to the country.

They sharply criticized Trump's protectionist trade policies, arguing that his actions were taking a toll on the economy. A video shown during the conference depicted images of recently shuttered businesses.

“The divisiveness of this White House is causing long-term damage,” Brian Hooks, a senior Koch lieutenant, told reporters at the event. “When in order to win on an issue someone else has to lose, it makes it very difficult to unite people and solve the problems in this country. You see that on trade: In order to get to a good place on trade, convince the American people that trade is bad.”

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The Kochs, who espouse free-trade views, have long expressed discomfort with Trump, and their network largely sat out the 2016 election. But the open hostilities at this weekend’s conference came as something of a surprise.

Since the election, there had appeared to be a thaw. David and Bill Koch met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort a few months after the inauguration, and at a donor meeting earlier this year, the network lavished praise on the president’s tax reform bill.

With 100 days to go before a midterm election that has emerged as a referendum on Trump and his policies, Bannon argued, the Kochs need to rally behind the president. Democrats, who he said want to halt Trump’s agenda and launch impeachment proceedings, are energized and focused — and out-hustling Republicans.

He described the Koch political operation as ineffective, saying it had wasted untold dollars on losing past elections. And he argued that voters had rejected the free-trade approach the Kochs embrace in favor of Trump’s brand of economic populism.

“We can have a theoretical discussion later, OK? This is why they don’t know what it means to win, OK? We don’t have time to have some theoretical discussion and to have their spokesman come out and say the president is divisive,” Bannon said.

He said it was unacceptable “for them to come out and talk about divisiveness” given their long-running lack of support for Trump.

“They were the first people to put the knife in his back,” he said.

A Koch network spokesman, James Davis, shrugged off the criticism.

“We are focused on uniting the country to help remove barriers that are preventing people from reaching the potential,” he said. “Toward that end, we look forward to working with the President Trump, Congress and communities whenever possible to help people improve their lives.”

The Koch network has pledged to spend $400 million ahead of the midterms.

Bannon left the White House a year ago, and earlier this year, he had a high-profile falling out with Trump after he made critical remarks about the president and his family in a book, “Fire and Fury.”

Since that time, he has taken steps to re-ingratiate himself with the president and has been a loud outside supporter and spokesman. He described Trump’s policies as across-the-board successes and said that he’d achieved a wide range of conservative policy goals.

Bannon praised, among other things, Trump’s handling of the economy, tariffs and tax cuts, and noted that he’d nominated an array of conservative judges and pursued stringent immigration policies.

But he said that the Kochs had only chosen a few Trump policies to support “a-la-carte” and in many instances had actively fought him.

Displeasure with the Trump agenda was an ongoing theme of the weekend’s conference. During remarks to reporters on Sunday, Charles Koch expressed regret about some of his past financial support for Republican candidates — and hinted that he’d be open to working with Democrats.

"Charles Koch is a good man, but 100 days before an election that will determine the direction of the country is not the time to tell us that you are prepared to work with Democrats that support parts of your progressive agenda,” Bannon said.

“It's wrong, it's stupid and it shows contempt for the hardworking grassroots folks that delivered the victory that got your tax cut,” he added.

