President Donald Trump has informed Attorney General Pam Bondi that her time as Attorney General has come to an end. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche will step in to become the interim attorney general to give Trump time to decide on Bondi’s permanent replacement. Bondi will reportedly not be leaving the administration.
According to a report from Katelyn Caralle and Emma Colton, “Bondi met with Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday night ahead of his speech to the nation on the war in Iran where was reportedly informed of her ouster, according to two sources familiar with the meeting. One of those sources said that by the time Trump took his place behind the podium for the address, Bondi had already lost her job and was on her way back to Florida.”
Their story follows a number of others about Bondi’s impending ouster. Earlier on Thursday morning, Semafor’s Shelby Talcott had tweeted that “the president has informed Pam Bondi that her time as AG is nearing an end” and “all the normal caveats that he could change his mind apply.”
Politico’s Dasha Burns had also reported that Bondi will “will be out imminently” on Thursday morning, following Wednesday evening stories from CNN and The New York Times suggesting that Bondi would likely be leaving her post soon.
“A person close to the White House tells Dasha that when Trump met EPA boss Lee Zeldin on Tuesday to discuss last year’s California wildfires, Trump also discussed the potential of tapping him for the AG role (CNN and the NYT last night both named Zeldin as the most likely successor.) A second person familiar with the situation tells Dasha that Bondi will be out imminently,” read Thursday’s edition of Politico Playbook.
The Times‘ Tyler Pager had previously reported that “President Trump has discussed firing Attorney General Pam Bondi in recent days as he grows frustrated with her leadership at the Justice Department and her handling of the Epstein files” on Wednesday.
“Among his top complaints is Ms. Bondi’s handling of the Epstein files, which has become a political liability for Mr. Trump among his supporters. He has also complained about her shortcomings as a communicator and vented about what he sees as the department’s lack of aggressiveness in going after his foes, according to people who have spoken to him recently,” Pager added.
President Trump told the Times and CNN that “Attorney General Pam Bondi is a wonderful person and she is doing a good job.”
Last week, it was reported that Bondi relocated to secure military housing near Washington, D.C., after receiving a series of death threats tied to drug cartels and backlash over her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.
Sources familiar with the situation told The New York Times that Bondi moved from her Washington apartment to a protected military base within the past month due to heightened security concerns.
According to those reports, the threats intensified following the capture of former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and amid public criticism surrounding the Justice Department’s release of Epstein-related files.
Bondi is the latest senior administration official to move into secure housing at or near military facilities in the Washington, D.C., area after citing threats from criminals, foreign adversaries and protesters, The Times reported.
Other officials who have reportedly relocated to heavily protected quarters include Stephen Miller, the president’s top domestic policy adviser and a key architect of the administration’s immigration policies; Secretary of State Marco Rubio; former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem; and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll has also moved into military housing, along with Navy Secretary John Phelan, whose Washington residence was damaged in a fire last year, The Times said.