President Donald Trump reportedly told his outgoing attorney general Pam Bondi that he would be replacing her en route to the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday morning, saying simply, “I think it’s time.”
The pair were riding in “The Beast,” the presidential limousine, to watch the nation’s highest court hear arguments on the question of birthright citizenship, when Trump made his feelings clear, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The duo then had to sit side-by-side at the hearing, until the president moved away, after which, the report states, she asked Trump to keep her in post until the summer. He refused.
open image in galleryThe president duly announced Bondi’s departure on Truth Social Thursday, saying she would be relocating to a “much needed and important new job in the private sector” and praising her as “a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend.”
In the process, Bondi became the second Cabinet official to be ousted during Trump’s second term, following the removal of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last month.
She will serve until the end of the month and then be replaced by her deputy, Todd Blanche, in an acting capacity.
Bondi’s time leading the Department of Justice was marred by controversy, with the president allegedly unhappy about her failure to prosecute his political enemies and over the botched handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Trump reportedly made his decision earlier this week but had been talking about replacing Bondi, who was part of the legal team that defended him at his Senate impeachment trial in early 2020, since the turn of this year.
He had been angered by a “steady drip of frustrations” and a “lack of positive news coverage” concerning the DOJ, according to the WSJ, and had even presented aides with print-outs of hostile social media posts attacking his AG.
At one stage, the very mention of Bondi’s name was enough to send the president into rage, ranting the “terrible job” he felt she was doing.
open image in galleryFor her part, Bondi had hung a giant banner from the DOJ’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., in the hope of currying favor with Trump and had attempted to meet his demand for legal action against his foes, only for weak cases against former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James to fall apart as soon as they came into contact with reality.
The journal reports that Bondi told confidantes she felt under constant pressure from the president to deliver more than was realistic and that some of what he asked for was outside the realms of the possible.
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