President Donald Trump has privately discussed the possibility of firing Attorney General Pam Bondi and replacing her with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, three people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Thursday.
In those conversations, Trump has discussed his ongoing frustration with Bondi over her handing of the Jeffrey Epstein files and hurdles the Department of Justice has encountered in investigations into Trump's perceived enemies, the people said. The Republican president has mentioned other candidates but has raised Zeldin's name as recently as this week, the people said.
The people were not authorized to publicly discuss the private conversations and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.
No decision has been announced, and Trump has been known to change his mind on personnel decisions.
"Attorney General Pam Bondi is a wonderful person and she is doing a good job," Trump said in a statement produced by the White House.
Zeldin, a former Republican congressman from New York who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2022, has emerged as a Trump favorite and was praised by the president at an event in February as "our secret weapon."
He is widely viewed as a loyal Trump ally and has been eager to pursue Trump's deregulatory agenda. Like Trump, Zeldin regularly derides Democrats' efforts to fight climate change as the "Green New Scam" and he joined Trump at the White House when the administration revoked a scientific finding that long has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions a nd slow climate change.
Bondi has also endured months of scrutiny over her department's handling of the Epstein files that made her the target of angry conservatives even with her close relationship with Trump.
Under Bondi's leadership, the department opened investigations into a string of Trump foes, including Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, New York Attorney General Letitia James, former FBI Director James Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan.
The high-profile prosecutions of Comey and James were quickly thrown out by a judge who ruled that the prosecutor who brought the cases was illegally appointed. Other politically charged investigations have either been rejected by grand juries or failed to result in criminal charges.
_____
Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at (INSERT EMAIL HERE).
Austin Pollack brings us an update on a remarkable young man facing great odds, and his family has one simple request: pray for Cole. I believe in the power of prayer and hope you'll join me in lifting up Cole and his family.
- Carrie Sharp
