Today in Politics, Bulletin 341. 4/2/26

… Pam Bondi was fired today AG, with Deputy AG Todd Blanche taking over as interim AG. Trump posted this on Truth Social: “Pam Bondi is a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my AG over the past year. We love Pam, and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future.”

… Rumors are swirling that Kash Patel and Tulsi Gabbard are soon to go next. Coming on the heels of the Kristi Noem firing, that would be massive shakeup in Trump’s dysfunctional, incompetent cabinet.

… Daily Mail: “Trump informed the AG last night shortly before his Iran speech that she would soon be leaving DOJ, according to a senior admin source. Following the meeting, Bondi left DC on Thursday morning and flew back to her home in FL.”

… “Bondi responded by pleading for the President to give her more time in the role, but Trump remained firm that her time leading the agency was over. ‘She was unhappy and tried to change his mind,’ the source said. However, the President told her she was fired.”

… “Trump’s reasoning for the sudden dismissal comes in part because the President believes Bondi tipped off Eric Swalwell about the FBI ’s efforts to release investigative documents related to his relationship with an alleged Chinese spy. The FBI was preparing a cache of documents on Swalwell’s relationship with Christine Fang.”

… Source: “She’s intervening in those matters. The WH wasn’t pleased she was intervening due to her personal friendship with Swalwell.”

… Reports have circulated that Trump is considering EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin or DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro as her replacement.

… Politico’s Dasha Burns: “When Trump met EPA boss Lee Zeldin on Tuesday to discuss last year’s CA wildfires, Trump also discussed the potential of tapping him for the AG role, a person close to the WH tells me. CNN and NYT also both named Zeldin as the most likely successor.”

… He reportedly met with Pirro at Mir-a-Lago over the weekend.

… Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA): “Pam Bondi oversaw an unprecedented weaponization of DOJ that brought our nation's rule of law to its knees. Countless and baseless political investigations, hundreds of career law enforcement professionals purged, a massive cover-up of the Epstein files, and a wholesale effort to turn the dept into a criminal law firm representing the person of the president instead of the American people.”

… “But Bondi was merely a symptom of Trump's chronic allergy to our nation's laws. And, in the end, her sycophancy could not prevent the inevitable defenestration that eventually befalls most Trump loyalists. Her firing does not mitigate the need for her to answer for her conduct as AG, and Todd Blanche should expect to receive the same scrutiny.”

… Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL): “Pam Bondi still has to testify, under oath, in front of the Oversight Committee regarding the Epstein Files. This does not get her out of that bipartisan, lawful subpoena. We will see her soon.”

… Statement from Amanda and Sky Roberts, the family of Virginia Giuffre:
“Alliance to a corrupt agenda never serves you! Another one falls on the sword to protect the powerful! We hope she has the courage to testify and actually do right by survivors this time.”

… Statement from Epstein survivor Marijke Chartouni: "The rot runs deep in the Department of Justice; pigs will certainly fly should Epstein prosecutions begin under Todd Blanche.”

… House Oversight Committee spokesperson to CNN: “Since Pam Bondi is no longer AG, Chairman Comer will speak with Republican members and DOJ about the status of the deposition subpoena and confer on next steps.”

… House Judiciary ranking member Jamie Raskin: “Her firing today is long overdue, but it does not erase the damage done and it does not absolve her of accountability.
Democrats in Congress will continue to investigate, expose, and hold Pam Bondi and others at DOJ accountable for their serial abuses of power.”

… Guardian: “Trump has privately asked cabinet officials in recent weeks whether he should replace his DNI Tulsi Gabbard, venting frustration that she shielded a former deputy who undercut his rationale for war with Iran. Trump’s discussions mark an ominous development for Gabbard, given the president tends to poll his advisers when he starts to seriously consider whether a personnel change is necessary.”

… Trump’s doubts about Gabbard followed her testimony at the worldwide threats hearing last month where she declined to condemn Joe Kent, who had resigned days earlier after arguing that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the US. The nature of Kent’s departure and his criticism of the war had already angered Trump, but he expressed particular frustration about Gabbard seemingly defending Kent and appearing reluctant to defend the admin’s position to attack Iran.”

… Asked on Sunday whether he still had confidence in Gabbard’s leadership, Trump offered a mixed endorsement: “Yeah, sure. I mean, she’s a little bit different in her thought process than me, but that doesn’t make somebody not available to serve.”

… That is the kind of thing Trump typically doesn’t allow though.

… CBS: “Pete Hegseth has asked Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George to step down and take immediate retirement.”

… Brandon Herrera, who just defeated Rep. Dan Crenshaw in the TX Republican primary: “I certainly hope this isn’t the case. General Randy George is a great American, and everyone I’ve spoken to who served under him in combat roles has great respect for his leadership.”

… TIME: “Trump was in the Oval Office during the third week of the Iran war when a group of his most trusted advisers came to deliver some unwelcome news. His longtime pollster, Tony Fabrizio, had conducted surveys that indicated the war Trump launched was growing increasingly unpopular. Gas prices had surged past $4 per gallon, stock markets had tumbled to multi-year lows, and millions of Americans were preparing to take to the streets in protest.”

… “13 American service members had been confirmed killed. Some of Trump’s key public supporters were criticizing a conflict with no clear end in sight. It fell on Susie Wiles and a small group of aides to tell the President that the longer the war dragged on, the more it would threaten his public support and Republicans’ prospects in Nov’s midterm elections.”

… “For Trump, the stark warning was unsettling. The President has begun many recent mornings watching video clips compiled by military officials of battlefield successes. He has told advisers that being the commander in chief to eliminate the nuclear threat posed by Iran could be one of his signature achievements.

… “But Wiles was concerned aides were giving the President a rose-colored view of how the war was being perceived domestically, telling Trump what he wanted to hear instead of what he needed to hear. She had urged colleagues to be ‘more forthright with the boss’ about the political and economic risks.”

… The Telegraph (UK): “When the WH announced that Trump was to give an ‘important update’ on the Iran war the next evening, the world’s media was sent into a frenzy. Rumors circulated on X that the US president was going to announce the winding down of the almost 5-week-long conflict. Others suggested he was about to deploy US troops to Iran.”

… “But when he took to the podium on April Fool’s Day, what Trump served up in his first primetime live address to the American people since first launching strikes on Feb 28 was essentially a supercut of almost every sound bite and Truth Social post from the last month beamed into Americans’ living rooms.”

… “Trump looked trapped behind his podium. He has no obvious paths to escalation, beyond risking American lives by putting boots on the ground, or de-escalation. Europe has ignored his threats and entreaties to join his war, while Iran has fought on rather than coming, cowed, to the negotiating table.”

… From Trump’s slurred, low-energy, disastrous speech last night when he struggled to even read what was on the teleprompter:

• “We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next 2 to 3 weeks. We’re going to bring them back to the stone ages where they belong.”

• “If there is no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously.”

• “The countries of the world that do receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage. They must cherish it. They must grab it and cherish it. They can do it easily.”

• “So to those countries that can’t get fuel - go to the strait and just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves. The hard part is done, so it should be easy.”

• “We have all the cards. They have none.”

• “The whole world is watching and they just can’t believe what they’re seeing.”

… That is true, but not the way he meant it.

… Pete Hegseth posted on X after the speech: “Back to the Stone Age.”

… Middle East energy analyst Amena Bakr: “The world without oil and gas from the Middle East will go back to the Stone Age.”

… Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA): “Trump’s address tonight was full of contradictions and gaslighting. According to him, Iran has been eviscerated, yet the Strait of Hormuz remains closed and we will continue spending billions of dollars to bomb Iran in the coming weeks? Americans can’t afford Trump’s war.”

… French President Emmanuel Macron on using force to open the Strait of Hormuz: “This has never been the option that we’ve chosen and we think it’s unrealistic. We must be able to reopen this strait because it’s strategic for energy, fertilizers, and international trade, but it can only be done in consultation with Iran.”

Tomorrow is both the daily Bulletin as well as the Ask the Editor podcast where I answer 5 of your questions. If you have a question or a topic you want me to talk more about, leave them in the comments to this Bulletin below.

This has been an absolutely wild week and I’m doing my best to keep up with everything for you. Thank you to all who read and subscribe. If you missed my weekly podcast Uncovered yesterday where I do a deep dive into the top stories of you week, you can find that here.

… Denmark economist Lars Christensen: “Trump has addressed the American people - and the world. The build-up promised something momentous. BUT what did he actually say? NOTHING. The expected attacks on NATO did not materialize, nor was there ANYTHING concrete about the plan regarding the war with Iran. Before the speech he had hinted that the US was on its way out. But there was nothing concrete on that front either.”

… “Trump apparently cannot find a way out of this war. But just look at the financial markets this morning: oil prices up - and equities sharply down. The most shocking aspect of this speech is that it was PREPARED, and yet despite that, Trump was utterly incapable of delivering any coherent message whatsoever. It genuinely appears as though the speech was written by a 19-year-old with no knowledge of the