Trump is reportedly not very happy with Attorney General Jeff Sessions

(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

last updated 6 June 2017

President Trump demands loyalty, but when it comes to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, one of his earliest advocates, allegiance is not enough to keep him on Trump's good side, several administration officials told The New York Times.

Trump's annoyance was on full display Monday morning, when he tweeted his dissatisfaction with the way the Justice Department is handling the defense of his travel ban: "The Justice Dept. should have stayed with the original Travel Ban, not the watered down, politically correct version they submitted to S.C." What first set Trump off, though, was apparently Sessions deciding in March to recuse himself from the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

As far as Trump is concerned, officials told the Times, all of the White House's trials and tribulations can be traced back to this move. The president thinks that's why a special counsel was appointed to oversee the investigation, and he was also angry that he didn't find out about Sessions' decision until midway through an event. A senior administration official told the Times that Trump is still smarting over this, and that the day after Sessions' announcement, he was livid. Still, Sessions shouldn't be too concerned about getting the boot, officials said — after Trump's firing of former FBI Director James Comey drew widespread criticism, Trump is not as eager to dismiss another high-profile person. Read the entire report at The New York Times.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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