President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Saturday, June 22, 2019, before boarding Marine One for the trip to Camp David in Maryland.Associated Press/Susan Walsh
If President Donald Trump had one "do-over" during his time in the White House, it would be the nomination of Jeff Sessions as attorney general, according to an interview he gave to "Meet the Press'" Chuck Todd.
When Todd presented the hypothetical to Trump, he started by saying, "it would be personnel."
When asked who specifically, Trump said, "I would say if I had one do-over, it would be, I would not have appointed Jeff Sessions to be attorney general." He went on to call the decision his "biggest mistake."In the past, Trump has rebuked Sessions and expressed regret over his appointment in the wake of Sessions' decision to recuse himself from overseeing the probe into Russian election interference and the Trump campaign. The investigation would eventually span years and become the albatross around Trump's neck, ensnaring some of his top campaign and administration officials.
In three tweets in May 2018, Trump shared a quote from former Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, writing:
Rep.Trey Gowdy, "I don't think so, I think what the President is doing is expressing frustration that Attorney General Sessions should have shared these reasons for recusal before he took the job, not afterward. If I were the President and I picked someone to be the country's chief law enforcement officer, and they told me later, 'oh by the way I'm not going to be able to participate in the most important case in the office, I would be frustrated too...and that's how I read that - Senator Sessions, why didn't you tell me before I picked you There are lots of really good lawyers in the country, he could have picked somebody else!" And I wish I did!
Trump went on to fire Sessions in November 2018.