FILE – President Donald Trump announced the firing of Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday. (AP Photo/John McDonnell, File)AP President Donald Trump let Attorney General Pam Bondi know of her firing a day before making the decision public, according to The Wall Street Journal
AP Photo/John McDonnell, File)AP
FILE – President Donald Trump announced the firing of Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday. (AP Photo/John McDonnell, File)AP
President Donald Trump let Attorney General Pam Bondi know of her firing a day before making the decision public, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The Journal reported that Trump informed Bondi of her departure on Wednesday — as the attorney general joined the president on his way to the Supreme Court, where justices heard oral arguments on the constitutionality of his executive order to limit birthright citizenship.
“I think it’s time,” Trump told her, and she would later tell an associate, according to the outlet.
The report also noted that Trump had decided earlier in the week that he would be replacing her — and as Bondi asked if she could keep her job until the summer, the president declined.
Trump then took to Truth Social on Thursday, announcing the departure of a “Great American
Trump then took to Truth Social on Thursday, announcing the departure of a “Great American Patriot and a loyal friend,” who he said had “faithfully served as my Attorney General over the past year.”
“Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown in Crime across our Country, with Murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900,” Trump wrote.
While noting that Bondi will soon begin a “much needed and important new job” in the private sector, Trump tapped Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to serve in the role in the interim.
In her first message since the announcement of her ousting, Bondi said she will work “tirelessly” to transition the office to Blanche while saying she is “eternally grateful” for the president’s trust as the nation’s top law enforcement official.
Leading President Trump’s historic and highly successful efforts to make America safer and more secure
“Leading President Trump’s historic and highly successful efforts to make America safer and more secure has been the honor of a lifetime, and easily the most consequential first year of the Department of Justice in American history,” she wrote in a post on X.
Though neither Trump nor Bondi have weighed in on the reasoning behind the decision, several outlets reported in the run-up that the president had grown frustrated with her handling of the Justice Department’s investigative files into Jeffrey Epstein and the lack of prosecutions against his political foes.
The New York Times and CNN reported on Wednesday that Trump has mulled in recent days over ousting Bondi and instead nominating Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
“Attorney General Pam Bondi is a wonderful person and she is doing a good job,” Trump said in a statement to The Times at the time.
