Steve Bannon says Donald Trump’s impeachment defense strategy is not working and needs to be changed.
Mr Trump’s former chief strategist was not impressed with the open day of work by the ex-president’s team of lawyers.
Bruce Castor’s opening in the Senate trial was widely criticised by Republican Senators and compared unfavourably to that of the Democratic House impeachment managers.
A frustrated Mr Trump reportedly "screamed" at his TV as he watched the trial from his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
And Mr Bannon agreed that the first day did not go well for his former boss.
“The strategy is not working ... this is asymmetric information warfare: Democrats argue a coherent made-for-TV fantasy that works on an emotional level,” Mr Bannon said, according to the Associated Press.
“Lindsey Graham’s team argues the constitution and nobody cares. Changes needed and needed now."
Mr Trump's frustrations were described by CNN's chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins.
"Multiple people tell me Trump was basically screaming as Castor made a meandering opening argument that struggled to get at the heart of the defence team's argument," she said.
"President Trump was not happy with the performance of his legal team in action,” one person familiar with his thinking told Politico.
