Trump Lashes Out At Steve Bannon: 'He Lost His Mind'

WASHINGTON, DC — President Donald Trump lashed out at former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon on Wednesday after a report that Bannon called the meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and several Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign “treasonous.”

"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," Trump wrote in a statement Wednesday.

"Now that he is on his own, Steve is learning that winning isn’t as easy as I make it look," Trump added. "Steve had very little to do with our historic victory, which was delivered by the forgotten men and women of this country. Yet Steve had everything to do with the loss of a Senate seat in Alabama held for more than thirty years by Republicans. Steve doesn’t represent my base—he’s only in it for himself."

WATCH: White House Holds Press Briefing During Trump Feud With Bannon

The harsh words from Trump come after The Guardian newspaper on Wednesday published a report about journalist Michael Wolff’s new book, in which Bannon is quoted extensively. According to the report, Bannon said of the meeting between Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort and people said to represent the Russian government: “Even if you thought that this was not treasonous, or unpatriotic, or bad s--t, and I happen to think it’s all of that, you should have called the FBI immediately.”

The report also says that Bannon is quoted in the book — “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” which will be published next week — as saying that he believes the Mueller probe will focus on money laundering.

“You realise where this is going,” Bannon told Wolff, according to the report. “This is all about money laundering. Mueller chose [senior prosecutor Andrew] Weissmann first and he is a money-laundering guy. Their path to f------g Trump goes right through Paul Manafort, Don Jr. and Jared Kushner … It’s as plain as a hair on your face.”

Steve Bannon's right-wing website Breitbart also cited The Guardian report in a story published Wednesday.

Michael Wolff, the author of the book, is a prominent media critic and columnist whose work has appeared in the British GQ, The Guardian and The Hollywood Reporter.

An adapted version of the book was also published by New York Magazine on Wednesday. At the bottom of the story, the magazine included an editor's note about how Wolff gained the access he needed to write the book. Wolff said he was offered a "semi-permanent" seat on a couch in the West Wing, which was Trump's idea.

The editor's note reads, in part: "In true Trumpian fashion, the administration’s lack of experience and disdain for political norms made for a hodgepodge of journalistic challenges. Information would be provided off-the-record or on deep background, then casually put on the record. Sources would fail to set any parameters on the use of a conversation, or would provide accounts in confidence, only to subsequently share their views widely. And the president’s own views, private as well as public, were constantly shared by others."

Also See: Trump "Furious, Disgusted" Over Bannon's Claims

Photo credit: Brynn Anderson/Associated Press