WASHINGTON (AP) — The acrimony surrounding former White House adviser Steve Bannon's very public break with President Donald Trump is escalating, suggesting a permanent split between the president and the pugilistic strategist who helped put him in the Oval Office.

The new fissure in an already fractious Republican Party cast doubt on Bannon's hopes to foment a movement centered on "Trumpism without Trump."

It already has cost him a key backer. Rebekah Mercer, the billionaire GOP donor and Breitbart co-owner, issued a statement Thursday distancing her family from Bannon.

"I support President T...