Opinion: The Ghost Advising Donald Trump’s Presidency

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A photo illustration of Donald Trump and Lou Dobbs.https://thedailybeast-thedailybeast-prod.web.arc-cdn.net/resizer/v2/HBDEYX3TDRH55P4TSP7ZTXZ46U.jpg?auth=5447a6575f5a4ce9a3740a6d26b002a8df68a0c691b070e3212e418d03f9764c&smart=true&width=3000&height=1688" />
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/Fox/CNN

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I once pressed https://www.thedailybeast.com/steve-bannon-reveals-theres-a-plan-for-third-donald-trump-term/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank" title="https://www.thedailybeast.com/steve-bannon-reveals-theres-a-plan-for-third-donald-trump-term/">Steve Bannon about Trump’s intelligence.

He said, “He’s as smart as any guy who’s spent twenty years listening to Lou Dobbs.” As one of cable’s first business anchors, correspondents, and commentators, he developed a variety of stances: birtherism, anti-immigration, and the simple fix of putting https://www.thedailybeast.com/bitter-donald-trump-strikes-out-at-supreme-court-with-petty-tariff-move/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank" title="https://www.thedailybeast.com/bitter-donald-trump-strikes-out-at-supreme-court-with-petty-tariff-move/">tariffs on everything.

The underpinnings of these views were not facts, study, but ratings.

President Donald Trump looks on as he makes an announcement on American nuclear innovation in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 24, 2026. / Evelyn Hockstein / REUTERShttps://thedailybeast-thedailybeast-prod.web.arc-cdn.net/resizer/v2/YXTMRBJGFREW5PXZG6WUHUFO7A.JPG?auth=d7e506d1f09ef3925482f2a249806c9767f2fd65853d45f0da176c7c067300cf&smart=true&width=4500&height=3001" width="4500" />

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