President Trump on Wednesday said his preference is not to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, but stopped short of saying Mr. Rosenstein will keep his job.
“I would certainly prefer not doing that,” Mr. Trump said of firing Mr. Rosenstein.
The president’s comments come one day before he’s scheduled to meet with Mr. Rosenstein. The two are set to discuss allegations Mr. Rosenstein talked about secretly taping Mr. Trump and recruited cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.
Mr. Trump said Mr. Rosenstein assured him the report was not true.
“We’ve had a good talk,” Mr. Trump told reporters. “He said he didn’t say it. He says he doesn’t believe it. He says he has a lot of respect for me and he was very nice and we’ll see.”
The president said the Rosenstein meeting may be delayed tomorrow because he wants to watch the Senate hearing for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Mr. Trump also repeated his longtime compliant that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe is a witch hunt. Mr. Rosenstein overseas the investigation, which has put him at odds with the president.
“There was no obstruction,” he said. “There was no collusion.”
Mr. Rosenstein has been on thin ice with the president since the start of the Mueller probe. It fell to him because Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself.
That ice nearly broke over the weekend after The New York Times report hit Friday evening.
Media reports said Mr. Rosenstein offered his resignation and Mr. Trump was considering Mr. Sessions’ chief of staff, Matt Whitaker, to replace him.
Mr. Rosenstein ultimately kept his job for the time being after a Monday meeting with White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly.
At his Wednesday press conference, Mr. Trump emphasized that Mr. Rosenstein still has his job.
“He’s a member of the Trump Administration and the Justice Department,” the president said.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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