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Steve Bannon’s Nationalist ‘Gladiator School’ Evicted From 800-Year-Old Italian Monastery

The former Trump strategist wanted to bring far-right leaders from around the world to the monastery.

Steve Bannon’s plans to set up a right-wing nationalist “gladiator school” in an 800-year-old Italian monastery now lay in ruins. The Art Newspaper reported Wednesday that the Italian culture ministry has evicted Bannon’s close ally—British conservative Benjamin Harnwell—from the historic building after a long and drawn-out legal battle. The former Trump strategist wanted to bring far-right leaders and enthusiasts from around the world to the monastery in the hilltop town of Trisult. He told The New Yorker this year that the plan was to “generate the next Tom Cottons, Mike Pompeos, Nikki Haleys: that next generation that follows Trump.” However, to Bannon’s fury, Italy’s Council of State revoked the group’s lease in March, and now Harnwell has reportedly been removed from the building. However, Harnwell told The Art Newspaper that he won’t rest until Bannon’s right-wing academy has a building to base itself in, and claimed that “we have over 5,000 requests to participate.”