If the Trump White House is to be believed, Steve Bannon’s removal from the National Security Council is not a demotion. It’s more like a minor reshuffling prompted by the fact that Bannon has successfully “de-operationalized” the NSC. Nothing to see here, folks! The New York Times tells a somewhat different story, reporting that Bannon so dreaded the prospect of losing his NSC perch that he threatened to quit if the seat got yanked out from under him.