Relations between President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have frayed enough that Sessions recently suggested he could resign, although the offer was not formal and he does not want to leave, according to a new report.
Sessions' decision in March to recuse himself from all matters related to the Russia investigation frustrated Trump, who learned about the decision only minutes before it went public. Trump's irritation has not dissipated with time, ABC News reports:
Two sources close to the president say he has lashed out repeatedly at the attorney general in private meetings, blaming the recusal for the expansion of the Russia investigation, now overseen by Special Counsel and former FBI Director Robert Mueller.
But sources say the frustration runs both ways, prompting the resignation offer from Sessions.
Asked by ABC News if the attorney general had threatened or offered to resign, Justice Department spokesperson Sarah Isgur Flores declined to comment.
The Wall Street Journal reported he did not make a formal resignation offer and doesn't want to quit.
Trump tweeted criticism Monday of the Department of Justice, which Sessions runs, for submitting a "watered down" version of the original temporary travel ban executive order he signed to the Supreme Court. Trump signed the revised executive order as well.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/871675245043888128
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/871677472202477568
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday that he had not had a discussion with Trump about whether he had confidence in the Attorney General.
Sessions was one of Trump's earliest prominent supporters and became the first sitting U.S. Senator to endorse Trump when he ran for the Republican nomination.