Report: Trump sought to fire Mueller in December


After hearing news reports in early December that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office was issuing subpoenas for information about his business dealings with Deutsche Bank, President Trump became so angry that he told advisers the investigation needed to be shut down, eight White House officials and people close to Trump told The New York Times.
Trump's advisers and lawyers scrambled to get more information from Mueller's office, and were told that the reports were inaccurate, which calmed Trump down. This was the second time he considered getting rid of Mueller; last June, White House Counsel Don McGahn threatened to quit unless Trump stopped pushing him to fire Mueller. At the time, Trump said Mueller should be let go for a variety of reasons, including that he once had a dispute with a Trump golf course near Washington, D.C. Trump told the Times last year that he had set a "red line" that Mueller's investigation should not cross.
One former adviser told the Times that people close to Trump have learned to wait for him to bring up an issue three times before they act on it, and most aides are used to hearing him complain about the special counsel, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. For more on the December incident and Trump's state of mind, visit The New York Times.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
Storm warning
Feature The U.S. is headed for an intense hurricane season. Will a shrunken FEMA and NOAA be able to respond?
-
U.S. v. Skrmetti: Did the trans rights movement overreach?
Feature The Supreme Court upholds a Tennessee law that bans transgender care for minors, dealing a blow to trans rights
-
How would the Trump administration denaturalize immigrant citizens?
Today's Big Question Using civil courts lowers the burden of proof
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policies
Speed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities
-
Obama, Bush and Bono eulogize USAID on final day
Speed Read The US Agency for International Development, a humanitarian organization, has been gutted by the Trump administration
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump