WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is frustrated with Attorney General Pam Bondi and considering replacing her, according to eight people familiar with the situation.
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One person close to Trump told NBC News that the decision may be “imminent.”
Trump has grown “more and more frustrated” with Bondi, a person familiar with White House deliberations said, adding that while he likes her as a person, he doesn’t think she has “executed on his vision” in the way that he wants.
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Two of the sources told NBC News that Trump and Bondi had a heated confrontation at the White House last week, although they did not specify what it was about.
Bondi was seen traveling with the president to the Supreme Court on Wednesday for oral arguments in the birthright citizenship case, and she attended his prime-time address at the White House on the Iran war.
“Attorney General Pam Bondi is a wonderful person and she is doing a good job,” Trump said in a comment provided to NBC News.
The Justice Department did not immediately return a request for comment.
The New York Times first reported that Trump was considering replacing Bondi.
A top contender currently being discussed is Lee Zeldin, who heads the Environmental Protection Agency and previously served as a congressman from New York. Other candidates have also been floated.
Two people familiar with the conversations said Trump has been asking friends and people in his circle about Zeldin as a possible replacement for Bondi — and he’s been doing it more so in the past two weeks. A key consideration is whether a successor to Bondi would be able to be confirmed by the Senate.
There is a perception that Bondi is focused on the wrong things and unable to marshal the department’s resources to reach the president’s goals.
Since the Jeffrey Epstein files saga, Bondi has struggled to regain her footing with the president and deliver wins. Some of his allies have been frustrated by her handling of the files and believe she hasn’t been aggressive enough at delivering wins in investigations against the president’s political foes.
Failing to secure indictments “is a problem for job security with the president,” a former White House official said. “No one is more anxious than Trump to get everything done immediately. He’s at a stage in life where he realizes that time goes fast. He wants action.”
“The president wanted indictments against people he believes broke the law,” a Trump ally added. “There have been some, but that whole thing has not really gone anywhere. I think that’s a factor, but I believe it’s probably just a long time coming.”





