By Shelby Talcott – White House Correspondent, Semafor
THE NEWS
President Donald Trump has removed Pam Bondi as attorney general, ending her tumultuous 14 months at the helm of the Justice Department.
Trump told Bondi on Wednesday that her time in the job was nearing an end, as Semafor first reported, and he made the announcement official a few hours later. Todd Blanche, the DOJ’s No. 2, will serve as acting attorney general until a more permanent replacement is tapped.
Bondi’s departure follows months of mounting pressure stemming largely from her handling of DOJ’s files on the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, which became a constant thorn in her side. Long-simmering frustration among Republicans over the chaotic release of the files resulted recently in a bipartisan congressional subpoena, and Trump lost confidence in her leadership.
“We love Pam, and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Earlier on Thursday, he said in a statement to Semafor: “Attorney General Pam Bondi is a wonderful person and she is doing a good job.”
Trump earlier spoke with senior aides about who might be best to replace Bondi, as first reported by The New York Times. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin is high on the list of options, multiple sources told Semafor.
It’s unclear what role Bondi may find herself in next — Trump this term has had a habit of shifting his ousted appointees into other roles. Last year, his then-national security adviser was shifted to the role of United Nations ambassador after getting pushed out after a reporter inadvertently was added to a Signal chat about sensitive military operations.
And early last month, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem got pushed out of her role and reassigned to a new job called the “Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas.”
The president has been reluctant (though not entirely resistant) to firing senior advisers during his second term, in part because he sees ousting members of his team as giving in to his enemies. But Bondi made enough missteps to again prompt Trump to break from his pattern.
Trump was also frustrated with Bondi because he believes she may have alerted California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell to an effort by the administration to release files from an investigation into his relationship with an alleged Chinese spy, one of the sources told Semafor.
Swalwell vehemently denied this rumor in a statement, saying “we had no heads-up by anyone in the administration.”
A DOJ spokesperson referred Semafor to the White House in response to a request for comment.
Original source: https://www.semafor.com/article/04/02/2026/trump-has-told-bondi-her-time-as-attorney-general-is-almost-up