Back at Breitbart, Steve Bannon launches first strike in his war on Trump's White House

The White House has had a nervous few days to see how former chief strategist Steve Bannon would act now that he is back at the helm of Breitbart.

Bannon was ousted from his post on Friday 18 August, with some worried that, in the words of Lyndon B Johnson, they'd be better served having him "inside the tent" than outside it.

It was widely-known that Bannon was against further interference in Afghanistan, a topic that Trump regularly lambasted Barack Obama regarding in the run-up to his election.

But after Trump announced his intention to stay and "fight to win", the newly reinstated Breitbart boss hit out at the president.

The alt-right website suggested that the decision was a "flip-flop" and said that it "reverses course".

The site also took target at Trump's national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, a prominent figure in the White House who Bannon regularly clashed with.

One headline read "His McMaster's voice: Is Trump's Afghanistan policy different from Obama?"

The attacks on McMaster have gradually grown in recent weeks from Breitbart, but the likening of Trump's policy to that of Obama's will be the sharpest sting.

They suggested that the rhetoric that Trump gave had echoes of Obama's "blank cheque".

Breitbart's editor, Joel Pollak tweeted: "Trump's #Afghanistan speech was Obama's speech minus the deadline & details. Like the bit about Pakistan, not convinced we can deliver India."

The scale of Trump's plans were attacked from the offset with the lead line of the piece reading that "after seven months of deliberation Monday evening [he announced] tweaks around the edges of the current strategy instead of a different approach".

The Trump administration long-feared a White House with Bannon on the outside, despite Trump praising Bannon's return to Breitbart.