On Friday, President Donald Trump fired chief strategist Steve Bannon, the White House announced, ending the shaky tenure of a rabble-rousing conservative media entrepreneur and political activist.
“White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Steve Bannon have mutually agreed today would be Steve’s last day,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders reported in a statement. “We are grateful for his service and wish him the best.”

A source familiar with the decision, which had been consideration for a while, reported Bannon was given a chance to leave on his own terms. “The president made up his mind on it over the past couple of weeks,” the source stated.

Kelly had been assessing Bannon’s role within the White House. “They gave him an opportunity to step down knowing that he was going to be forced to,” the source reported.

Bannon damaged his position by giving an interview to the liberal American Prospect this week in which he was seen to be weakening Trump’s position on North Korea.

Bannon told associates he thought he was talking to an academic and thought he was off the record.