Steve Bannon’s Attempt at Exporting Firebrand Populism to Europe is Failing

As an adviser to Trump, Bannon helped articulate the "America First" right-wing populism and fierce opposition to immigration that have been hallmarks of the president's time in office.

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He was arrested on a yacht last month and pleaded not guilty to charges of defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors to the $25 million "We Build the Wall" campaign. Bannon has dismissed the charges as politically motivated.

Italian probe

One of the main post-Trump causes Steve Bannon promoted has been the Dignitatis Humanae Institute, which supports conservative Catholic causes and is based in an 800-year old monastery south of Rome.

Along with Steve Bannon, the institute has been trying to set up a two-track program: an "academy for the Judeo-Christian West" with a Bannon-designed curriculum and the Cardinal Martino Academy, which will promote Catholic social teachings, said Benjamin Harnwell, a former British Conservative party activist who leads the institute and works with the former Trump aide.

Harnwell told Reuters he has recently had to delay his plans to further develop the institute after Italian authorities tried to evict him from the monastery.

In October, Italy's Culture Ministry revoked the institute's permission to use the monastery, saying Harnwell's organization did not meet the requirements to manage it and had lied when applying to use the building.

The Culture Ministry press office said Harnwell's organization had not managed a cultural site for at least five years, a condition for those applying to use the building.

In making its application, the institute said that it had operated an abbey in central Italy since 2015.