President Trump has repeatedly complained to aides in recent weeks about Attorney General Pam Bondi, calling her weak and saying she hasn’t enforced his agenda effectively, according to administration officials and others familiar with his remarks.
The complaints reflect a broader push by Trump to pressure the Justice Department to move more aggressively on priorities he has emphasized. While he has voiced frustrations with Bondi before, officials said his criticism has become more frequent in recent months.
This month, Trump has discussed with allies the possibility of appointing special counsels within the Justice Department, driven by what he views as slow progress, according to people familiar with the conversations.
A major source of his frustration, officials said, is Bondi’s failure—at least in his view—to quickly and effectively pursue prosecutions involving figures he considers adversaries, including former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Both cases were dismissed in November after a judge ruled that the Trump aide who secured the indictments had been improperly appointed. Trump has wanted the cases revived and advanced quickly.
Another flashpoint emerged Sunday night, when a Justice Department investigation involving Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell became public. Powell, whom Trump has publicly criticized and pressed to lower interest rates, disclosed that the department is pursuing a criminal investigation related to his testimony last summer about the Fed’s building-renovation project.
Trump has also complained that Bondi’s handling of Federal Bureau of Investigation files related to Jeffrey Epstein has created months of political and personal headaches, according to officials familiar with his remarks. After White House chief of staff Susie Wiles told Vanity Fair that Bondi “whiffed” on her handling of the files, Trump told staff he agreed with Wiles, two officials said.
Officials said Trump has also been influenced by criticism of Bondi from conservative activists and influencers. They described him collecting and referencing social-media posts about her performance and raising those posts with aides. Separately, some people familiar with his complaints said Trump has expressed frustration that the Justice Department hasn’t done more to pursue individuals he claims helped “steal” the 2020 election.
At times, Trump has conveyed his displeasure directly to Bondi, officials said.
People in touch with Bondi said she has grown increasingly concerned over the past month about the president’s complaints. A spokesman for Bondi said she has been focused on carrying out Trump’s directive to make America safe again.
In a statement to The Wall Street Journal on Friday afternoon, Trump said: “Pam is doing an excellent job. She has been my friend for many years. Tremendous progress is being made against radical left lunatics who are good at only one thing, cheating in elections and the crimes they commit.”
The White House also circulated statements Friday from Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Wiles, and other senior officials praising Bondi. Vance said she has the “full support of President Trump and myself,” while Wiles described Bondi as “incredibly talented, smart and hardworking.”
Late Friday, the Fed received grand-jury subpoenas from the Justice Department that could lead to a criminal indictment. Bondi’s spokesman said she had “instructed her U.S. attorneys to prioritize investigating any abuses of taxpayer dollars.”
Despite the criticism, Trump has at times remained personally warm toward Bondi, a former Florida attorney general and one-time personal attorney for Trump, according to a person familiar with their interactions.
Bondi isn’t the only Justice Department figure facing scrutiny from the president, people familiar with the matter said, though they did not detail other targets of his criticism.
Trump’s complaints also echo criticism among some of his supporters. Longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon said Bondi has been “bleeding support” among the president’s base. “Folks are desperate for action and just haven’t seen it,” Bannon said, pointing to issues supporters want pursued more aggressively, including 2020 election claims and aspects of the Justice Department’s earlier investigation into Trump campaign ties to Russia in 2016.
White House officials said Bondi has been less visible around the West Wing in recent months. She did not appear with Trump during an announcement about the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, even though a Justice Department prosecution helped underpin the operation. A Justice Department official said Bondi followed developments closely in real time, but travel logistics and the operation’s sensitivity kept her from attending.
Vance also announced an unusual arrangement: the creation of a senior Justice Department role to investigate fraud that would be run by the White House and answer to Trump rather than Bondi. Bondi publicly thanked Vance in a social-media post. A department official said Bondi worked with the White House on the structure and that she and Vance chose it instead of appointing a special counsel.
Trump’s tensions with Bondi have drawn comparisons to his fraught relationships with attorneys general during his first term. He pushed out Jeff Sessions amid the Russia probe, and William Barr later resigned after stating investigators found no widespread fraud that would have changed the outcome of the 2020 election.
“The better an attorney is, the more process-oriented they are going to be, and that is in direct opposition to what Trump wants, which is someone who is outcome-oriented,” said Sarah Isgur, a former Justice Department spokeswoman under Sessions. “He can never find a great attorney general because, by definition, they can’t be a great lawyer.”
Since taking office in February, Bondi has pursued many of Trump’s priorities, including firing prosecutors who worked on investigations involving him and appearing frequently on Fox News. She also authorized a U.S. attorney in Florida to re-examine the government’s assessment of Russian interference in the 2016 election—an episode Trump has framed as a criminal plot by Democrats to damage his first presidency. Prosecutors have issued dozens of subpoenas as part of that inquiry, but no charges have been filed.
Trump’s frustration became more visible publicly in September, when he pressed Bondi to prosecute Comey and James in a social-media post he had intended to send privately. He installed Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide, to lead the federal prosecutor’s office in Virginia overseeing the probes. Halligan indicted both Comey and James within weeks.
But the prosecutions stalled after a judge ruled Halligan’s appointment unlawful and dismissed both cases. The Justice Department has reportedly failed to persuade at least two grand juries to indict James again. Nearly a month after the dismissals, the department filed notices of appeal in both cases.
Meanwhile, continued releases of Epstein-related files have kept Trump’s past association with Epstein in public view, which has irritated the president, officials said. Trump has said he cut off ties with Epstein long before Epstein’s first arrest in 2006. As new tranches of documents were released over the holidays, Trump again complained about Bondi’s handling of the matter, several officials said.
Amid the criticism, Bondi has sought to demonstrate responsiveness to Trump’s requests. In November, hours after Trump demanded an investigation into prominent Democrats named in Epstein documents, Bondi directed Manhattan’s U.S. attorney to lead the inquiry and addressed it on social media, writing: “Thank you, Mr. President,” she wrote.
