President Donald Trump launched one of his trademark nicknames on Thursday evening, presumably referring to Breitbart News executive chairman, former Trump campaign CEO, and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon as “Sloppy Steve,” as a controversial new book rushes to newsstands.
Trump began his tweet by disputing reports that he had given journalist Michael Wolff, author of Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, unfettered access to the White House.
The new nickname quickly trended #1 on Twitter.
Earlier on Thursday, Trump had noted Bannon’s praise for him Wednesday evening on Breitbart News Tonight. In response to a caller, the man known to Breitbart News readers and listeners as the “Honey Badger” declined to retaliate against the president’s earlier criticism: “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.”
But Trump, clearly anticipating more controversy ahead of the rushed early release of Wolff’s book on Friday, went on the attack.