President Donald Trump has grown increasingly impatient with Attorney General Pam Bondi, repeatedly complaining to top aides that his hand-picked chief law enforcement officer is being too “weak” and “ineffective” in pursuing his enemies, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal.
Sources familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal that the President’s private frustrations have boiled over as he seeks more aggressive action from the Department of Justice against his political rivals. The tension underscores a widening rift between the Oval Office and a Justice Department that Trump believes should be more responsive to his personal and political directives.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the President has vented to advisors about Bondi’s failure to deliver the high-profile indictments he has publicly and privately demanded. Trump’s agitation reportedly reached a breaking point after he accidentally posted a message on Truth Social that was intended as a private directive to Bondi. In that message, Trump addressed “Pam” directly, urging her to move faster on prosecutions of figures like Senator Adam Schiff, former FBI Director James Comey, and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was surprised to learn the post had gone public, but his embarrassment did not dampen his resolve. Instead, the incident highlighted the President’s habit of viewing the Attorney General as a personal lawyer tasked with settling scores. “He wants a fighter, and right now he feels like he’s getting a bureaucrat,” one advisor told The Wall Street Journal.
Bondi, who was confirmed with a mandate to restore order to a Justice Department Trump claimed had been “weaponized” against him, now finds herself in the same crosshairs as her predecessors. Despite her public loyalty and frequent appearances defending the administration’s policies, aides say Trump remains unsatisfied with the pace of the DOJ’s internal investigations into the origins of past probes against him.
The report also details how Bondi has attempted to manage the President’s expectations while maintaining a semblance of departmental independence. Following the “Truth Social” mishap, Bondi reportedly grew upset and contacted White House aides, prompting a follow-up post from Trump praising her for doing a “GREAT job.” However, The Wall Street Journal notes that behind the scenes, the criticism has not abated.
White House officials have downplayed the reports of friction, but The Wall Street Journal suggests that the relationship is nearing a tipping point. As Trump enters the more aggressive phase of his second term, his tolerance for what he perceives as “weakness” in the DOJ appears to be at an all-time low. For Bondi, the challenge remains balancing the President’s demands for “retribution” with the Justice Department’s legal standards and institutional norms—a balance that, according to The Wall Street Journal, the President finds increasingly unnecessary.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
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