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Trump accuses Steve Bannon of 'losing his mind' in response to series of explosive Russia claims Trump accuses Steve Bannon of 'losing his mind' in response to series of explosive Russia claims
(35 minutes later)
President Donald Trump has officially severed ties with his former top aide, Steve Bannon, claiming the campaign strategist had "lost his mind," and had little to do with his election victory. President Donald Trump has slammed former chief strategist Steve Bannon, claiming the campaign strategist had "lost his mind," after he was quoted calling a Trump campaign meeting "treasonous". 
Mr Trumped lashed out at his former adviser in the wake of reports claiming Mr Bannon had made inflammatory statements about his campaign.
"Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my Presidency," Mr Trump said in a statement. "When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind.""Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my Presidency," Mr Trump said in a statement. "When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind."
He added: "Steve had very little to do with our historic victory, which was delivered by the forgotten men and women of this country ... Steve doesn’t represent my base—he’s only in it for himself."He added: "Steve had very little to do with our historic victory, which was delivered by the forgotten men and women of this country ... Steve doesn’t represent my base—he’s only in it for himself."
The comments came in the wake of an explosive report in which Mr Bannon was quoted mocking a June 2016 meeting between Mr Trump’s son Donald Jr, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, among others. Mr Trump Jr agreed to the meeting after an intermediary promised "dirt" from Russian sources on campaign rival Hillary Clinton.
“Even if you thought that this was not treasonous, or unpatriotic, or bad s***, and I happen to think it’s all of that, you should have called the FBI immediately," Mr Bannon said of the meeting, according to journalist Michael Wolff.
The meeting has been of intense interest to Congressional investigators, as well as special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Mr Trump issued his fiery response in an official White House statement hours after the report first surfaced. He accused Mr Bannon, once thought to be his most trusted adviser, of leaking false information to the media, and downplayed his former White House role.
"Steve was rarely in a one-on-one meeting with me and only pretends to have had influence to fool a few people with no access and no clue, whom he helped write phony books," Mr Trump said.
Mr Bannon was seen as a key architect of the Trump campaign, helping the candidate tap into his populist message and pushing him towards more nationalist ideas. He was also a driving force behind Trump administration policies like the travel ban and the repeal of Obama-era regulations.
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