President Trump said, “I don’t have an attorney general,” in an interview tirade against Jeff Sessions on Tuesday.
“I’m so sad over Jeff Sessions because he came to me. He was the first senator that endorsed me. And he wanted to be attorney general, and I didn’t see it,” Mr. Trump said during an interview with Hill.TV released on Wednesday.
The president said Mr. Sessions “did very poorly” during his confirmation hearing and missing softball questions. He also expressed his dissatisfaction with the attorney general’s work on “numerous things,” including immigration at the border.
“I mean, he was mixed up and confused, and people that worked with him for, you know, a long time in the Senate were not nice to him, but he was giving very confusing answers,” Mr. Trump said, “Answers that should have been easily answered. And that was a rough time for him.”
Mr. Trump said it was the pressure of the confirmation hearing that most likely convinced Mr. Sessions to recuse himself from the Russian investigation.
The attorney general stepped away in March from heading the probe into potential collusion between Russians and members of the Trump campaign. It has since been a major source of tension between Mr. Trump and Mr. Sessions.
When asked directly if he would fire Mr. Sessions, the president mulled over the idea. Mr. Trump said that even his “worst enemies” believed the attorney general was “very unfair” to him.
“We’ll see what happens. A lot of people have asked me to do that. And I guess I study history, and I say I just want to leave things alone, but it was very unfair what he did,” he said, “I’m very disappointed in Jeff. Very disappointed.”
Mr. Trump partially walked back his comments on Wednesday after the interview came out.
“I’m disappointed in the attorney general for numerous reasons,” he told pool reporters as he was on his way to North Carolina. “But we have an attorney general. I’m disappointed in the attorney general for many reasons. And you understand that.”
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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