The president said the attorney general, who he has repeatedly criticized, will stay on at least until November

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Donald Trump said on Thursday the US attorney general, Jeff Sessions, was safe in his job at least until the midterm elections, Bloomberg News reported.

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“I just would love to have him do a great job,” Bloomberg quoted Trump as saying in an Oval Office interview. It did not quote the president directly about Sessions being safe until November.

Trump has repeatedly attacked Sessions for recusing himself from the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US election. In his confirmation hearings, Sessions did not disclose to senators meetings with the then Russian ambassador during the presidential campaign.

Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein appointed special counsel Robert Mueller to lead the investigation, which Trump has called a “witch-hunt”.

Trump also told Bloomberg he viewed the Russia investigation as “illegal”, and said he would “see what happens” if Mueller issued him with a subpoena to secure an interview.



“Great scholars” had said “there never should have been a special counsel”, the president was quoted as saying. The scholars were not immediately identified.

Some Republicans have predicted Trump will replace Sessions, a former senator from Alabama, after the elections on 6 November.

Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina senator who is close to Trump and a defender of Sessions, said last week he believed the president would appoint a new attorney general but should wait until the elections.

Bloomberg said Trump also spoke approvingly of Allen Weisselberg, chief financial officer of the Trump Organization who agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors in their investigation of Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer.



Cohen pleaded guilty last week to six fraud charges and two of campaign finance violations. The campaign finance charges concerned Cohen’s facilitation of payments to women who claim to have had affairs with Trump. Cohen has said Trump directed him to make the payments, which, like the affairs, Trump denies.

Asked if Weisselberg had turned on him or put him in legal jeopardy, Trump told Bloomberg: “One hundred percent he didn’t. He’s a wonderful guy.” Weisselberg’s cooperation, the president added, was related to “a very limited period of time”.

Trump also said he respected Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell even though the central bank was not helping him out in trade disputes.

“I put a man in there who I like and respect,” Trump said.