Steve Bannon was amped early Wednesday, sounding as though he’d guzzled 20 Red Bulls at a victory party for Alabama’s Roy Moore as he plotted his next slash-and-burn campaign with trademark pugilism.

He left Alabama after orchestrating a call between Trump and Moore for a flight to Colorado to meet with potential 2018 Senate candidates gathered there — and is planning extensive travel in coming months to recruit candidates to challenge incumbents across the country, people close to him say.


Bannon says he remains on Trump’s team, but others in the White House have their doubts about the former chief strategist’s allegiance. He has told friends he is over the slights in the White House, but some close to him say he still seethes about a number of top officials, including Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and economic adviser Gary Cohn, whom Bannon routinely savaged as “Globalist Gary.”

He is publicly supportive of Trump but can be sharply critical in private, associates say.

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Bannon’s partnership with Trump led to one of the unlikeliest White House wins in U.S. history. Now his victory in Alabama opens the question of whether Bannon will be an uncontrollable but ultimately beneficial outside ally for Trump or a “pain in the ass that makes life harder for everyone,” as one senior administration official described him. Some of his critics say that Bannon’s influence is overrated, and that his impact will be ephemeral without the White House.

Still, Trump's decision to support incumbent Sen. Luther Strange in the Alabama race has been questioned by his associates and appears to have given Bannon an opening — and a resounding win in the primary runoff. Those who know Bannon best say they expect him to try to strike something of a balance, carving his own path and seeking media adulation while keeping some connection to Trump.

“Does Bannon have juice on his own or he is a product of Trump’s momentum or celebrity or whatever?” asked Bannon biographer Joshua Green. “Moore’s blowout victory suggests to me that Bannon is emerging as a political force on his own.”

A spokeswoman for Bannon declined to comment.

Trump, according to several people who have spoken to him, has grown frustrated with Bannon’s spate of publicity — Green’s biography, commentators saying Bannon was a puppeteer, Bannon's face on TV and Breitbart’s attacks on his administration. He was frustrated again Wednesday when Bannon’s candidate, Moore, defeated Trump’s candidate, Strange, one adviser who spoke to the president said.

Several people close to Trump said he is concerned that Bannon and Breitbart will attack him in ways that damage his presidency. Still, he has called Bannon since his departure to seek his counsel and has a fondness for the strategist, who can be disarmingly charming and shares many of the president’s political beliefs.

And Bannon — who chafed at the White House dress code, particularly the requirement to wear long pants, closed shoes, a tie and preferably just one shirt at a time — is clearly back in his groove. As strategist, he lasted almost seven months, frustrating colleagues with his rants and sometimes struggling to build consensus for his agenda.

For the last two months of his tenure, he largely stayed in his office, isolated. But he also pushed an aggressive agenda in the early days and was able to push through immigration restrictions, hobble the Paris climate accord and launch the introduction of a travel ban affecting Muslim-majority countries and a ban on transgender people serving in the military, among other wins in his eyes.

He huddles at his Capitol Hill townhouse with conservatives and rabble-rousers, swearing like a sailor, chugging sodas — he doesn't drink alcohol — and getting ready to shape 2018. He is not fond of sleep.

Bannon has told associates he wants to recruit candidates in a number of states, including Tennessee, Montana, Missouri, Nevada and Arizona. Bannon is said to be looking for people who will support a populist agenda and oppose candidates backed by the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

“He wants to just repeat Alabama over and over,” according to one associate.

Bannon wants to convince Trump that he is making a mistake by supporting establishment candidates and waffling on his hard-line campaign promises, according to people familiar with his plans.

He has particular disdain for Sens. Jeff Flake of Arizona and Bob Corker of Tennessee, who was on Bannon’s target list until he announced he was retiring Tuesday.

Bannon has also griped about Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. “He really wants to get rid of McConnell,” said one person who frequently speaks to Bannon.

“Faux populism is the worst kind,” said Josh Holmes, a longtime chief of staff and adviser to McConnell. “When he goes to Appalachia, Mitch McConnell knows far more about the people than Steve Bannon ever will.”

Holmes added of Bannon: “What he’s doing is making things significantly harder on President Trump at every turn.”

Whether the two men remain allied, or Bannon creates headaches for the White House, as he did in Alabama, largely depends on whether Trump continues to promote Bannon’s populist agenda, which includes limiting immigration and engaging in trade wars, say people close to him.

While Trump cares about his TV coverage and his polls, Bannon tends to see it differently, loving the loud and large protests and musing that Trump should focus on the longer game even at the expense of wins.

“It’s all or nothing for Steve,” said Chris Ruddy, a Trump friend. “There is no compromise.”

CORRECTION: This post has been updated to correct Flake's state affiliation.