President said his 30-minute conversation with the justice department official was ‘great’

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Donald Trump has said he does not plan to fire Rod Rosenstein, the justice department official in charge of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Rod Rosenstein, deputy attorney general, to meet Trump amid resignation reports Read more

“No I don’t, no,” Trump told reporters on Monday morning when asked if he had plans to fire the deputy attorney general, adding that he has a “very good relationship” with Rosenstein.

Rosenstein was flying with the president on Air Force One on Monday after widespread speculation last month that Trump could fire him, following a news report that said Rosenstein had questioned Trump’s fitness for the job and wanted to record conversations with him in order to expose chaos in the White House.

The deputy attorney general oversees special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian election interference, links between the Trump campaign and Moscow and potential obstruction of justice by the president.

Play Video 0:21 Trump says he has no plans to fire Rosenstein – video

While addressing the International Association of Police Chiefs in Orlando, Florida, Trump said he and Rosenstein had “a very good talk”.

The New York Times reported last month that Rosenstein discussed secretly recording the president and invoking the 25th amendment to remove him from office. Rosenstein said the report was “inaccurate”.

In Florida, Trump said this was a “very big story” and mockingly noted media interest in his conversation with the deputy attorney general.

“The press wants to know, ‘What did you talk about?’” said Trump, after thanking Rosenstein by name in his prepared remarks.

Upon landing in Orlando, Trump told reporters that his 30-minute conversation with Rosenstein had been “great”. The deputy attorney general left Air Force One walking side by side with White House chief of staff John Kelly.

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley later told reporters the conversation focused on “various topics including the International Chiefs of Police event, support for our great law enforcement officials, border security, how to better address violent crime in Chicago, and general [Department of Justice] business”.