Donald Trump has criticised his former chief strategist - saying he's 'lost his mind'.
The president's issued a statement attacking Steve Bannon, ahead of the release of a new book reportedly featuring unflattering comments by the now Breitbart News chair.
Mr Bannon joined the Trump campaign as chief executive, and is an outspoken critic of establishment Republicans.
The Guardian reported that Mr Bannon has told author Michael Wolff that the controversial Trump Tower meeting between senior campaign officials and several Russians was 'treasonous' and 'unpatriotic'.
Mr Trump now says the aide he fired in August had 'very little' to do with his election win.
He also accuses Mr Bannon of spending his time at the White House 'leaking false information to make himself seem important'.
In a lengthy statement issued to US media, Trump wrote: "Stephen K Bannon has nothing to do with me or my Presidency. When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind.
"Now that he is on his own, Steve is learning that winning isn’t as easy as I make it look. Steve had very little to do with our historic victory, which was delivered by the forgotten men and women of this country."
Trump also pointed to the recent Alabama Senate election, in which the Bannon-backed Republican candidate Roy Moore suffered a shock loss against Democrat Doug Jones.
Trump added: "Steve doesn’t represent my base - he’s only in it for himself."
Trump statement: “Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my Presidency. When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind.” Via pool pic.twitter.com/KZXXMDe5O9
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 3, 2018
