Trump's Trials - Trump nominates former personal attorney Todd Blanche for Attorney General

Episode Date: June 9, 2026

President Trump officially nominated Todd Blanche to be the next Attorney General, setting up a potential confirmation fight in Congress. NPR's Ryan Lucas reports. Support NPR and hear every episode of Trump's Terms sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

I'm Scott Detrow, and this is Trump's terms from NPR. Every episode, we bring you one story from NPR's coverage of the Trump administration with the focus on actions and policies that take the presidency into uncharted territory. Here's the latest from NPR. I'm Michelle Martin in Washington, D.C. President Trump has nominated Todd Blanche to serve as Attorney General. The White House says it formally submitted his nomination to the Senate, where Blanche may face a bumpy road to confirmation. NPR Justice correspondent Ryan Lucas reports.

Todd Blanche made his name on the national stage serving as President Trump's personal attorney, defending him from criminal prosecutions over hush money payments, mishandling classified documents, and attempting to overturn the 2020 election. After Trump returned to the White House last year, he tapped Blanche to serve as the number two official at the Justice Department. Blanche stepped into the top job on an acting basis after Trump pushed out his, his first Attorney General, Pam Bondi, in April. Asked days later whether he wanted to be Attorney General on a permanent basis, Blanche said this. I love working for President Trump. It's the greatest honor of a lifetime. And if President Trump chooses to keep me as acting, that's

an honor. If he chooses to nominate me, that's an honor. If he chooses to nominate somebody else and asks me to go do something else, I will say, thank you very much. I love you, sir. Since stepping into the acting role, Blanche has had two months to audition for the permanent job. And in that time, he has aggressively pursued the administration's agenda and gone after the president's perceived enemies, including a second prosecution of former FBI director James Comey. Blanche also has defended the proposed $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund and personally signed papers that would shield Trump, his family, and businesses from IRS audits of past tax returns. Blanche has won praise from Trump, who signaled last week he planned to formally nominate him.

and asked in an interview over the weekend what he would do as Attorney General, Blanche told Fox News this. Look, executing on the president's priorities that he has talked about since he was running for president, and that's making this country safe again. Still, Blanche's recent actions could complicate his narrow road to confirmation in the Senate, where Democrats and crucially even some Republicans have expressed concerns about his track record at the Justice Department. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington. And before we wrap up, a thank you to our NPR Plus supporters who hear each show without sponsored messages and, of course, who help protect independent journalism. If you are not a supporter yet, you can visit plus.npr.org to find out how you can get a ton of podcast perks across dozens of NPR shows, like bonus episodes, exclusive merchandise, and more.

Again, that's plus.npr.org. I'm Scott Detrow. Thanks for listening to Trump's Terms from NPR.