Read Don McGahn's account of the wild night after Trump asked him to 'do crazy sh-t'


A significant part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, made public in redacted form on Thursday, involved looking into if President Trump tried to obstruct justice. While Mueller was unable to reach a conclusion on that front, he did detail in great length an episode in which Trump tried to get him fired.
On June 17, 2017, Trump apparently called his White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn, and ordered him to fire Mueller over a supposed conflict of interest. "You gotta do this," McGahn recalled Trump saying, with the president directing him to call Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to do the deed.
McGahn was "perturbed by the call" and "did not intend to act on the request," Mueller wrote, noting that McGahn and Trump's other advisers had thought the conflicts alleged by Trump were "silly" and "not real." Trump apparently called McGahn a second time, asking "have you done it?" and demanding "call me back when you do it." Mueller wrote that "to end the conversation with the president, McGahn left the president with the impression that McGahn would call Rosenstein" although in actuality "he just wanted to get off the phone."
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.
Because McGahn refused to follow Trump's order, he decided to resign and began preparations, which involved, apparently, telling then-Chief-of-Staff Reince Priebus that the president had asked him to "do crazy sh-t." Priebus and Stephen Bannon urged McGahn not to quit and to just ignore the president.
When Trump and McGahn next saw each other, Mueller writes, "the president did not ask McGahn whether he had followed through with calling Rosenstein." Read the full section of the report below, via The Toronto Star's Daniel Dale. Jeva Lange
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
September 14 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include RFK Jr on the hook, the destruction of discourse, and more
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-war
Talking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
Crossword: September 14, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-war
Talking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
Calls for both calm and consequences follow Kirk killing
TALKING POINTS The suspected assassination of far-right activist Charlie Kirk has some public figures pleading for restraint, while others agitate for violent reprisals
-
Why does Donald Trump keep showing up at major sporting events?
Today's Big Question Trump has appeared at the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500 and other events
-
‘Democracy is under threat globally’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Former top FBI agents sue, claiming Trump purge
Speed Read The agents alleged they were targeted by a “campaign of retribution”
-
Why does Trump keep interfering in the NYC mayoral race?
Today's Big Question The president has seemingly taken an outsized interest in his hometown elections, but are his efforts to block Zohran Mamdani about political expediency or something deeper?
-
Judge lets Cook stay at Fed while appealing ouster
Speed Read Trump had attempted to fire Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump