Steve Bannon quits as White House chief strategist

Washington: Steve K. Bannon on Friday left the White House and his role as the far-right chief strategist of United States President Donald Trump. 

His ouster came after weeks of controversy and staff changes at the White House.

The US leader has informed top aides of his decision to part ways with his embattled strategist but was still debating with top White House officials when and how to dismiss him, according to the New York Times.

An ABC News report said that Bannon resigned from his role as White House chief strategist two weeks ago.

Trump has come under fire from Republicans and Democrats alike for insisting anti-racism protesters were equally to blame for the violence at a weekend rally staged by neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Bannon, the former head of ultra conservative outlet Breitbart News, is described as being the nucleus of one of several competing power centres in what has been a chaotic White House.

Over the last few days, there has been an increasing demand to fire Bannon with critics labelling him as a white supremacist.​

As the uncertainty over Steve Bannon's future in the White House continued, the President refused to give any assurance over his far-right chief strategist's fate, in wake of the violence in Charlottesville over the weekend.

Responding to questions if he still had confidence in Bannon, Trump said, "Look, I like Mr Bannon. He's a friend of mine. But Mr Bannon came on very late. You know that. I went through 17 senators, governors, and I won all the primaries. Mr Bannon came on very much later than that," Trump told reporters at a news conference at the Trump Towers in New York.

"I like him, he's a good man. He is not a racist, I can tell you that. He's a good person. He actually gets very unfair press in that regard. But we'll see what happens with Mr Bannon. But he's a good person, and I think the press treats him, frankly, very unfairly," he said.

On Thursday, Bannon had attacked white nationalists as 'clowns' as the fallout from violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, continues.

"Ethno-nationalism -- it's losers," Bannon reportedly said in an interview published by magazine American Prospect on Wednesday.

Bannon's comments followed weekend of turmoil in the US after a white nationalist 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville last week turned violent following clashes between far-right and counter-protestors, CNN reported.

(With Agency reports)