Jul 10, 2019 - Politics & Policy

Alex Acosta on thin ice with Trump

Jonathan Swan

Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta with President Trump — Photo: Oliver Contreras/Pool/Getty Images

President Trump defended Labor Secretary Alex Acosta yesterday for his plea deal with Jeffrey Epstein in a previous job, but Acosta doesn’t enjoy much goodwill at the White House.

The big picture: Many conservatives inside the administration don't view Acosta as one of them, and have been urging him to take aggressive deregulatory actions, per sources with direct knowledge.

Senior officials, including acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, have been frustrated with Acosta for moving too slowly and softly on deregulation.

What he's saying: Trump said he feels "very badly" for Acosta for the controversy about his handling of the sex trafficking case as a federal prosecutor in south Florida: "But we’re going to be looking at that, and looking at it very closely."

The bottom line: Acosta wasn’t standing on the firmest ground before the Epstein case exploded.

Go deeper ... What we know: The Jeffrey Epstein indictment

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Alex Acosta on thin ice with Trump

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