Attorney General Pam Bondi had a pretty good idea her days were numbered.
President Trump had complained too freely, too frequently, to too many people about her inability to prosecute the people he hates. She was falling short of Mr. Trump’s unyielding, unrealistic demands for retribution against his enemies. She had made mistake upon mistake on the Epstein files. Her critics were in the president’s ear.
Last month, Ms. Bondi told a friend that Mr. Trump’s willingness to fire Kristi Noem from her post as homeland security secretary meant she might be in jeopardy too.
But Ms. Bondi had not expected Mr. Trump, the man largely responsible for elevating her to one of the most powerful positions in the country, to drop the curtain quite so soon, according to four people familiar with the situation.
On Wednesday, the 60-year-old Ms. Bondi, downcast but determined, joined Mr. Trump for a glum crosstown drive to the Supreme Court, where they watched arguments in the birthright citizenship case. In the car, Mr. Trump told her it was time for a change at the top of the Justice Department.
Ms. Bondi hoped to save her job or, at the very least, buy a little more time — until the summer — to give herself a graceful exit.
She ended up with neither, and grew emotional Wednesday in conversations with friends and colleagues after she realized she was out. The next morning, Mr. Trump made it official, and fired her via social media post.
Ms. Bondi’s precipitous fall laid bare a cornerstone truth of Mr. Trump’s second term: Loyalty, flattery and obeisance are prerequisites for power, but they provide durable protection from a president intent on carrying out his maximalist personal and political goals.
Ms. Bondi, even her allies acknowledged, was largely responsible for putting herself in a vulnerable position. Her turbulent 14 months were characterized by a series of missteps and messaging misfires that had, increasingly, alienated Republicans on Capitol Hill.
Her firing came roughly two weeks before she was required to appear before the House Oversight Committee to testify under oath about her actions in the Epstein case.
But the far greater danger, as Ms. Bondi knew better than anyone, came from Mr. Trump, upon whom she heaped lavish, and at times cartoonish, praise.
But while she effused, he fumed.
Mr. Trump has been particularly angry about the Justice Department’s failure to win cases involving his political opponents, including against the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey and the New York attorney general, Letitia James.
One key Trump adviser outside Ms. Bondi’s line of authority, the federal housing official Bill Pulte, had long pushed for her firing, blaming her for slow-walking and bungling the James and Comey cases, among other things, according to people familiar with the situation.
People close to Ms. Bondi, and some administration officials, also said that Boris Epshteyn, the longtime Trump legal adviser, was a key detractor of Ms. Bondi’s and a significant factor in Mr. Trump’s decision to make the move.
Neither Mr. Pulte nor Mr. Epshteyn immediately returned requests for comment.
Ms. Bondi’s most important ally in the West Wing, the chief of staff Susie Wiles, found it increasingly difficult to defend the woman she called her “sister.” Nonetheless, she made a passionate argument for retaining Ms. Bondi until the end, according to officials.
In recent weeks, Ms. Bondi tried to shore up her position by moving more aggressively against investigative targets singled out by Mr. Trump, including the former Obama official John O. Brennan and a former White House aide, Cassidy Hutchinson, whom the president has accused of lying about his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, according to officials briefed on the effort.
It is not entirely clear if any specific action or event finally tipped the balance for Mr. Trump, who had been reluctant to fire senior officials to avoid reprising the chaotic turnstile personnel turnover of his first administration.
But with the dismissal of Ms. Noem and now Ms. Bondi, that might be changing. His calculus appears to have shifted after the quick confirmation of Markwayne Mullin as Ms. Noem’s replacement. Now, Mr. Trump’s allies see Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the embattled labor secretary, as a potential contender for the next cabinet secretary to be dismissed.
After Mr. Trump announced Ms. Bondi’s firing on Truth Social on Thursday, saying “she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector,” she said serving the president had been “the honor of a lifetime.”
The president said Ms. Bondi’s deputy, Todd Blanche, will replace her on an acting basis. But he has also floated the idea of putting Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, in the job.
Mr. Zeldin, a former Republican congressman from New York who unsuccessfully ran to be governor, has been one of Mr. Trump’s most reliable foot soldiers.
“He’s our secret weapon,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Zeldin in February at a White House event promoting the coal industry.
But given the reasons Ms. Bondi was fired, whoever replaces her permanently will face the monumental task of satisfying Mr. Trump’s appetite for retribution.
Glenn Thrush covers the Department of Justice for The Times and has also written about gun violence, civil rights and conditions in the country’s jails and prisons.
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