EXCLUSIVE — Steve Bannon is predicting that President Donald Trump’s increasingly strained relationship with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is headed toward an irreparable break, arguing that a showdown over acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination may be the final straw.

Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist and a close outside ally, told the Washington Examiner that Thune — not Trump — will be blamed if Blanche’s nomination collapses because of resistance from Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Thom Tillis (R-NC).