Good Thursday morning, I'm Jake Sherman and welcome to your political playbook audio briefing,

sponsored by the Better Medicare Alliance. And I'm Anna Palmer. Wow, it can be hard to keep up

in Trump's Washington on a lot of days. But yesterday underscored that more than most. Trump and his

former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, are at-out war, after quotes from a Michael Wolf book

were released, where Bannon criticized Donald Trump Jr. and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner,

and called a Trump Tower meeting with a Russian operative treasonous and unpatriotic.

The White House disavowed the book, and Trump bashed Bannon with a forceful statement,

and Trump's lawyers sent a cease-and- and assist letter to Bannon, accusing him of violating an agreement he signed

during the 2016 campaign that prevented him from disclosing confidential information

or disparaging Trump and his family. This is classic Trump retaliation. He and his organization

have threatened lawsuits and sent similar letters to is classic Trump retaliation. He and his organization have threatened

lawsuits and sent similar letters to adversaries over the years. By the way, the White

House can't simultaneously argue that the book is completely incorrect and Bannon violated a

non-disclosure agreement. If he violated a non-disclosure agreement, then something he said

must have been right. Our colleague Ileana Johnson has a look

at the animus between Trump and Bannon that's been brewing for months. Trump was very upset over

Bannon's comments in a Vanity Fair story that he had just a 30% chance of serving his full term.

The Washington Post is digging into how Bannon has alienated his main financial backer, Rebecca Mercer,

after Bannon told other conservative donors that he could count on the Mercer's financial support

should he run for president.

And the New York Times reports that White House aides encouraged Trump to hit back publicly

against Bannon, noting that Trump's aggressive statement

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