WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump has discussed firing Attorney General Pam Bondi amid his frustration with her leadership, including what he sees as a lack of aggression in targeting his enemies and over her handling of the Epstein files, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.
Trump has floated the idea of replacing Bondi with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, the report said, citing four unnamed sources familiar with the conversations. CNN also reported the discussions.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment by Reuters. The Justice Department also did not immediately respond.
In a statement to the New York Times, Trump said: “Attorney General Pam Bondi is a wonderful person and she is doing a good job.” A spokesman for Bondi referred to Trump’s statement, the Times said.
Bondi was at the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday as the Republican president attended oral arguments on a birthright citizenship case.
Critics say Trump has dispensed with decades-long norms designed to insulate federal law enforcement from political pressures.
He campaigned for the presidency vowing retribution after facing a slew of legal woes once his first term in the White House ended in 2021. He has continued to publicly call out his perceived adversaries and has pushed Bondi’s Justice Department to bring charges against them.
Since Trump took office a second time in January 2025, federal prosecutors have targeted former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook and former national security adviser John Bolton.
The White House has said Trump is abiding by his campaign promises to restore a justice system that he accuses of being “weaponized” by his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden.
The investigative files on the late convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein have also dogged Bondi, with a congressional panel issuing a subpoena for her to testify in its related investigation.
Bondi – a former Florida state attorney general – represented Trump during his first impeachment trial in his first White House term.
She was Trump’s second pick for the top U.S. law enforcement job after his first choice, former U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration ahead of a congressional ethics report that found he had paid women for sex and drugs and obstructed Congress.
(Writing by Susan Heavey in Washington; additional reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Mexico City and Ryan Patrick Jones in Toronto; Editing by Chris Reese and Andrew Heavens)
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