Steve Bannon Comes Back to Haunt Donald Trump

Donald Trump shows little affinity for reading, but he is familiar with the conceit of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: An ambitious figure creates a monster in the hopes of glorifying himself, only to have the spurned monster wreak havoc on its creator.

The president is living that plot, too, with Steve Bannon—and not only because his former consigliere sometimes displays the bedraggled, frightening mien of Dr. Frankenstein’s creation. During the heat of the presidential campaign, Trump plucked Steve Bannon from Breitbart to be the chief executive of his campaign; after winning, he appointed Bannon chief strategist of his White House, then pushed him out in August.

Now Bannon is back to haunt Trump, most strikingly, in a newobtained a copy of the book, due out later this week, which is built on hundreds of interviews with the president and administration insiders. , Bannon shows that even from outside the White House, he is more than able to sow the same chaos and backbiting that got him pushed out.