Donald Trump is playing an elaborate game of chicken with Jeff Sessions. And they are not on speaking terms.

Sessions has sent word to the White House that he has no plans to resign and wants to stay as attorney general even amid daily humiliation from the boss, according to two people familiar with his thinking. But he hasn't told Trump that himself.


Trump, meanwhile, has complained to anyone who will listen about Sessions recusing himself from the Russia probe and has weighed firing him. And he has told his advisers he has no desire to speak to Sessions, an early campaign supporter.

"I'm very disappointed in Jeff Sessions," Trump said in the Rose Garden Tuesday, sending a message to his top law enforcement official from a public microphone.

Trump's public criticisms of his attorney general have led to an unusual spectacle where the two men aren't talking — but sending messages through their aides and waiting for a resolution to the fate of the country's top law enforcement official, according to interviews with six White House aides and advisers, as well as Sessions allies.

The zone of confusion has led to conservatives, liberals, West Wing aides and others wishing for a resolution and end of a tired storyline without having any idea when that resolution will come.

Trump has called his attorney general "beleaguered" and "VERY weak" on Twitter while criticizing him to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and, on Tuesday, in the Rose Garden.

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At its core is Trump's anger, which has only grown, over Sessions recusing himself from the Russia investigation without advising Trump. With every story, Trump blames Sessions "more and more," one West Wing official said.

Sessions, meanwhile, told allies he did not understand the public angst and thought he was doing at the department what Trump wanted him to do. And recusing was a "no-brainer," Sessions has told people.

"I have called people in the West Wing, and no one understands why Trump is doing this and why he's still mad," one Sessions ally said.

Inside the White House, a heated battle has broken out over Sessions' future. His supporters, led by Steve Bannon, are trying to walk Trump "down from the brink," according to one. They have told him how badly the move could play in conservative media and how bad the fallout might be.

"Bannon is a huge fan and trying to keep him alive," one adviser said. "Bannon will do anything he can to stop that."

Meanwhile, conservative groups and leaders, from the Tea Party Patriots to former Sen. Jim DeMint, have complained. People and groups are usually supporters of Trump have urged the White House to help the president come to his senses.

"Everyone on the right loves Sessions," said one White House adviser. "It won't be good for us if he goes and we are hearing that."

Another senior White House official said the West Wing didn't need another confirmation fight and that it would be tough to confirm anyone under the current circumstances, with the Russia probe.

But Trump remains angry — and doesn't care about that. Every Russia investigation story reminds him of the attorney general's decision to recuse himself. And when he watches TV, the coverage, partially fueled by him, further angers him.

"He wants to fire him but he doesn't want the confrontation," said one adviser who frequently speaks to him. "He doesn't mind the long negative storyline. He will torture him every single day."

This person said Trump also wants to see how Sessions will respond to humiliation and has mocked his response so far.

In the West Wing, there is a growing consensus that Sessions is not long for this world, several officials said. "It's kind of clear how this ends."

Trent Lott, a Sessions ally, said Trump would be making a big mistake to fire Sessions. He said he hoped Rick Dearborn, a Sessions ally, could be a "catalyst" to saving the attorney general's job.

"But I think Dearborn is in between a rock and a hard place," he said, referencing to the aide’s longtime boss, Sessions, and his current boss, the president.

Lott said he thought Sessions would prove to be a "great" attorney general.

"I don't really understand what's going on with that," he said.

After another surreal day, people close to Trump and Sessions all agreed with Lott.