US President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, shortly after a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents Dinner on April 25, 2026. US President Donald Trump (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP)
President Donald Trump on Monday nominated his former personal lawyer Todd Blanche as US attorney general on a permanent basis, setting up a potential confirmation battle with the Senate.
Blanche, 51, has been serving as acting attorney general since Pam Bondi departed in April. Since then he has pursued a number of indictments against Trump’s political enemies.
The former Justice Department number two also controversially defended a $1.8 billion “slush fund” to compensate Trump’s political allies, which the administration has since dropped.
The White House said it had formally sent Blanche’s nomination to the Senate in a notice posted Monday on its website. Trump had told guests at a White House Rose Garden dinner last week that he intended to nominate him.
