'We have become friends': Steve Bannon joked with Epstein they were keeping Trump up at night

Steve Bannon and Jeffrey Epstein are much closer than initially described in previous reports.

CNN reported Monday morning that in the hours before Epstein was arrested in July 2019 "the two men exchanged a steady stream of text messages, veering from breezy banter and dark humor to more serious strategizing around Bannon’s efforts to "foment a global populist movement."

At one point Bannon asked Epstein, “Do [you] know anyone in Europe that wants to control the European Parliament and with it the EU.”

Epstein wanted Bannon to rally the U.S. behind a Slovakian leader seeking a top NATO post. Bannon needed access to a close ally of Epstein's in Israel.

While others pulled away from Epstein after his conviction, Bannon appeared to pull him closer. As Bannon was dealing with his own legal problems, the two "workshopped Bannon’s messaging," the report said.

Epstein bragged that he was "comforting people all day,” while in Europe, as people were disgusted with the election of Trump.

Trump has said that he and Epstein stopped speaking and they didn't hang out after a beef over taking girls from Mar-a-Lago. But after Trump was elected, Epstein said, “It's going to be better than fine.”

Michael Wolff's book “Siege: Trump Under Fire" said that Bannon met with Epstein and confessed, “You were the one person I was truly afraid of coming forward during the campaign.”

After Bannon was pushed out of the White House for taking credit for his populist campaign win, the two men connected through Wolff.

"Over the next month, Bannon appeared to walk Epstein through his plans for a new center-right coalition, one that could outlast democratic elections for more than a decade," the report said. "Over email, Bannon described his movement as 'reverse Alabama' — 'Populist/Nationalist first; Conservative Christians (catholic/evangelical) next.'"

“I need to understand flow of funds,” Epstein said, according to the CNN report. Epstein said there would be “money needed for think tank, for ads for policy meetings... though (sic) leaders.”

He even suggested using "cryptocurrency as a potential option and encouraged Bannon to study the blockchain."

At one point, Epstein confessed to a Dubai businessman, “We have become friends."

CNN's senior reporter Steve Contomo told Dana Bash that "Bannon leaned on him [Epstein] at times. Look at this message that Bannon sent to Epstein in 2018 asking for help. He says, 'Do you know anyone in Europe that wants to control the European Parliament? And with it the EU?' And Epstein responds by offering him help and guidance along the way. At one point, he says Europe can be a wife and not a mistress, and encourages him to spend more time in Europe, which Bannon then does."

“If you are going to play here, you’ll have to spend time, europe (sic) by remote doesn’t work,” Epstein wrote. “Lots and lots of face time and hand holding.”

Bannon did exactly that, speaking in packed rooms while having conversations with Epstein about what to do next.

"There are hundreds of them," said Contomo about the messages the men exchanged. He said it shows "that this was a close relationship, but it was also surrounded by their overlapping interests on the world stage."

At one point, Epstein and Bannon began discussing Slovakian diplomat Miroslav Lajčák, who served as the president of the United Nations General Assembly in 2017 and 2018, CNN said.

In March 2018, Epstein said Slovakia was about to collapse, “his [government will fall this week — as planned." He added a smiley face.

At one point Epstein texted Bannon, “Now you can understand why trump (sic) wakes up in the middle of the night sweating when he hears you and I are friends."

Bannon replied, “Dangerous.”

It wasn't long after that Bannon was bragging about the fall of the Belgian government. He told Epstein that the populist and nationalist groups were ready to rise up.

“We can run the tables here,” Bannon wrote.

The messages also show that Epstein was arrested mere moments after texting with Bannon.

Before the arrest, Epstein told Bannon that he understood how toxic he was and wanted to protect Bannon so he could "win."

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