Washington: US President Donald Trump today said that his former political strategist Steve Bannon who he fired in August has changed his “tune” pretty quickly by calling him a “great man”.
In the book ‘Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House’, written by author Michael Wolff, Bannon, according to the excerpts released by some media outlets in the last few days, is seen to be highly critical of Trump and the first family and says that Trump was interested in winning the presidential election.
Following the release of the excerpts, Trump in a strongly worded statement said that Bannon not only lost his job, but also his mind.
However, Bannon, known for his right-wing views, in his first comment later in the night described Trump as a “great man”.
“The President of the United States is a great man. You know I support him day in and day out, whether going through the country giving the Trump miracle speech or on the show or on the website,” told a caller on Brietbart News Tonight show in Sirius XM.
The book and the controversy surrounding Bannons comment on his former boss, has dominated the media landscape in the last 24 hours.
At a White House event wherein, he met Republican Senators on immigration Trump was asked did Steve Bannon betray him to which Trump said that Bannon has changed his tune.
“I don’t know, he called me a great man last night so, you know, he obviously changed his tune pretty quick,” Trump said.
Asked why he had kept talking to Bannon, Trump said: “I don’t talk to him, I don’t talk to him, that’s just a misnomer”.
Trump’s attorney Charles Harder sent a legal “cease and desist” letter to Bannon for his critical comments against the president and his family in the book.
In the letter, demanded that the publisher “cease and desist” from any further publication, release or dissemination of the book, CNN reported.
The letter alleges that the book excerpts contain “false/baseless statements” about the president.
The letter also uses the term “actual malice,” raising the prospect of a libel or defamation case, the report said.
“Trump hereby demands that you immediately cease and desist from any further publication, release or dissemination of the Book, the Article, or any excerpts or summaries of either of them, to any person or entity, and that you issue a full and complete retraction and apology to my client as to all statements made about him in the Book and Article that lack competent evidentiary support,” the letter said.