Trump criticizes former chief strategist as 'insane'

"Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency. When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind,"Independentciting a statement from US President Donald Trump, criticizing the former White House chief strategist.

"Steve had very little to do with my historic victory, which was made possible by the forgotten men and women of this country... Steve does not represent me," he added. According to the US President, Steve Bannon is just trying to burnish his name by "leaking false information to the media to make himself look more important."

The White House chief made the above comments after Steve Bannon, quoted in an article, accused Donald Trump Jr, the US President's son, of treason for meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya in June 2016. Bannon said that Donald Trump Jr should have immediately called the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) instead of attending the meeting when asked by Russia.

Congressional investigators and special prosecutor Robert Mueller, who is investigating allegations that Mr. Trump's campaign colluded with Russia to interfere in the US presidential election, are also particularly interested in this meeting.

Bannon was seen as the chief architect of Trump's campaign, helping him spread his populist message and fueling his nationalist ideology. Bannon was also the driving force behind some of the Trump administration's most prominent policies, such as the immigration ban. Bannon was fired last August.