White House to Bannon: We Are Never Ever Ever Getting Back Together

We are never ever ever getting back together,
We are never ever ever getting back together,
You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me
But we are never ever ever ever getting back together

– “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” Taylor Swift

The Donald Trump — Steve Bannon breakup fight continued to embarrassingly play out in the media as it began its second week, with Bannon making frantic efforts to talk to his friends, talk to Trump’s friends, talk to anyone who might listen to how very sorry he was about his role as a source for Michael Wolff’s book.

But the White House has made it very clear Trump is never, ever, ever getting back together with him.

Things weren’t looking good for Bannon after Trump ridiculed him as “Sloppy Steve” and then claimed that Bannon had been fired, not resigned, from his White House post, and had “cried” and “begged” for his job.

Bannon has spent the past few days figuratively standing outside the White House holding up a boombox playing Peter Gabriel, making comments on his SiriusXM radio show and even a 297-word statement of contrition that he gave to the media, claiming that he had been planning to release it before the President started his Twitter tirade against him.

According to a report by Politico, Bannon’s efforts were “seen as too little, too late for an operative unaware of the self-inflicted damage his hubris could cause.”

It did nothing to quell Trump’s rage at his former chief strategist or the anger of Bannon’s former West Wing colleagues, according to multiple administration officials, who said the vibe in the president’s circle was that people were unmoved by the statement. Asked whether there is anything Bannon can do at this point to get back in the president’s good graces, one White House official said curtly, “Unlikely.”

Just to drive the knife further in the wound, earlier today, White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley held a press gaggle aboard Air Force One while en route to Nashville, Tennessee, and addressed the issue. The official transcript released by the White House (emphasis added) shows Gidley saying multiple times he did not believe there was “any way back” for Bannon into the President’s good graces again:

Q: Hogan, yesterday, Steve Bannon issued a statement in which he calls Donald Trump, Jr. a patriot and seemed to express regret for some of the things he said in the Michael Wolff book. What is the President and White House’s reaction to that?

GIDLEY: I don’t believe there’s any way back for Mr. Bannon at this point. It is very obvious that Mr. Bannon worked with Mr. Wolff in this particular book. The President has been very clear on his thoughts; issued a four-paragraph statement about Mr. Bannon. Zero ambiguity in those statements. It was obvious that the book was false and fake. The President pointed to that and also pointed that Mr. Bannon is not in it for the country but instead in it for himself. And those statements still stand.

Q: What was his reaction to the apology, though, Hogan? What was the reaction the apology? What did he have to say about it?

GIDLEY: I haven’t talked to the President on that. But again, I just don’t think there’s any way back at this point.

Q: Can you explain —

GIDLEY: Sorry, one more thing, Jen. When you go after somebody’s family, in the manner in which he did — two of the President’s children who are serving this nation, sacrificing in their service — it is repugnant, it is grotesque. And I challenge anybody to go and talk about someone else’s family and see if that person doesn’t come back and come back hard.