Trump’s post demanding Bondi prosecute political enemies left officials so stunned they wondered if it was supposed to be private message
Some administration officials reportedly believed that a public message posted by President Donald Trump on social media — demanding the prosecution of his political opponents — was actually intended to be a private text message to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
On Saturday night, Trump posted on Truth Social, addressing “Pam” — presumably the attorney general — with a complaint that former FBI Director James Comey, Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, and New York Attorney General Letitia James hadn’t been prosecuted yet.
The message Trump posted began:”Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.’
In the now-deleted message, Trump also complained that he had accidentally elevated a “woke RINO” to U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia — referencing Erik Siebert — and pushed Bondi to appoint his former personal lawyer, Lindsey Halligan, to the role instead.
Immediately after the message was posted publicly, social media users speculated that it was meant to be a private text. Politico’s senior legal affairs correspondent Kyle Cheney noted that the “post that looks a lot like a DM,” and even Trump ally Laura Loomer admitted that the post “appears to be a text message.”
They weren’t the only ones. According to Rolling Stone, three sources close to the administration, as well as several senior officials at the Department of Justice and the White House, told the outlet they were surprised to see the message Saturday.
The officials told Rolling Stone that the message resembled how Trump typically texts, which they noted is similar to how he writes on Truth Social.
“Yeah, he texts like that,” one Trump adviser told the magazine. “It’s a lot like what the president writes online.”
The Independent has asked the White House for comment on the post.
The messages appeared to be evidence of a sitting American president directly calling for the prosecution of his political enemies, said political commentator Mehdi Hasan.
“Here is the president openly insisting his DOJ prosecute his political opponents, elected Democrats, for unspecific alleged crimes,” he wrote. “If this isn’t authoritarianism and weaponization of government then I don’t know what is.”
Schiff, who was named in Trump’s post, called the message an example of “political retaliation.”
“There’s no hiding the political retaliation and weaponization,” Schiff wrote. “It’s all out in the open.”
His 2016 rival, Hillary Clinton, likened Trump’s post to Richard Nixon tweeting publicly about the Watergate scandal.
