Trump had reportedly privately discussed the possibility of firing Bondi and replacing her with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin.
US President Donald Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday, a staunch ally who has drawn fire for her handling of the Epstein files, US media reported.
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CNN and other US outlets said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump's former personal lawyer, would serve as acting attorney general.
Trump had reportedly privately discussed the possibility of firing Bondi replacing her with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, three people familiar with the matter told the Associated Press news agency earlier on Thursday.
In those conversations, Trump has discussed his ongoing frustration with Bondi over her handing of the Epstein files and hurdles the Department of Justice had encountered in investigations into Trump’s perceived enemies, the sources said.
The Republican president has mentioned other candidates but has raised Zeldin’s name as recently as this week, the people said.
The people were not authorised to publicly discuss the private conversations and spoke on condition of anonymity.
"Attorney General Pam Bondi is a wonderful person and she is doing a good job,” Trump said in a statement produced by the White House.
Zeldin, a former Republican congressman from New York who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2022, has emerged as a Trump favourite and was praised by the president at an event in February as “our secret weapon."
This is a developing story and our journalists are working on further updates.