Steve Bannon is playing MAGA enforcer from the outside. Is the White House listening?

Through blunt conversations with staff and his popular podcast, Steve Bannon is trying to steer the early direction of the new Trump administration. Whether he’s having much impact inside the White House is a subject of debate.

Through blunt conversations and terse texting exchanges, Steve Bannon, the populist strategist and nationalist firebrand, tries to keep tabs on the inner workings of the White House. His inquiries fan out across the top rungs of President Donald Trump’s administration, and one official said they often boil down to an unsparing question: “What the f*** are you guys doing?” “I try not to bother people,” Bannon said in an interview, chuckling at the characterization of his communication style. “They’re busy. When I call someone, it’s not to catch up. It’s to say, ‘What the f*** is happening here? How did this go down?’” Eight years ago, Bannon didn’t need to chase down updates. As chief strategist to Trump in 2017, his desk was steps from the Oval Office. Today, Bannon mostly speaks to Trump and his circle of advisers the same way he connects to his sizable audience of MAGA loyalists: through his “War Room” podcast. The key question for Bannon is whether his frank opinions – including some critiques of the new Trump White House – carry the same sway now, as a voice unbound by official titles, or whether his distance from the levers of power has dulled his impact. Speaking to CNN during a late-night drive Tuesday after his court appearance in Manhattan, where he pleaded guilty to defrauding donors in a fundraising effort to build a border wall, Bannon insists he’s more effective operating from the sidelines. His megaphone is now larger and louder, he says, which Trump, an instinctive entertainer, can appreciate.