Jun 25, 2019 - Politics & Policy

Trump refuses to say if he has confidence in FBI director

President Trump. Photo: Andrew Harrer - Pool/Getty Images

President Trump wouldn't say during an interview with The Hill Monday if he has confidence in FBI Director Christopher Wray, stressing he disagrees with him over his administration's claims its agents spied on his 2016 campaign.

Well, we’ll see how it turns out."
— President Trump's response to a question on his level of confidence in Wray

The big picture: During his interview with The Hill, Trump made clear he disagreed with Wray telling Congress in May he would not describe FBI investigations as "spying." Wray made the comment in response to a question about Attorney General Bill Barr's assertion that law enforcement officials "spied" on the 2016 Trump campaign.

"I mean, I disagree with him on that and I think a lot of people are disagreeing. You may even disagree with him on that."
— President Trump to The Hill

Why it matters: Trump has a history of issues with the FBI. In 2017, he fired then-FBI director James Comey. He publicly criticized then-acting director Andrew McCabe, who was later fired by Trump's first attorney general, Jeff Sessions. The president has also criticized on several occasions former FBI agent Peter Strzok and ex-FBI lawyer Lisa Page, who exchanged anti-Trump text messages during the 2016 campaign.

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What we’re hearing: “I wouldn't be surprised that, if something gets left off the table, we’d be like ‘we can take this executive action too and be able to win on it anyway,’” one official said.

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TikTok responds to Trump executive order: "We are shocked"

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Why it matters: TikTok argued that Trump's move "risks undermining global businesses' trust in the United States' commitment to the rule of law, which has served as a magnet for investment and spurred decades of American economic growth."

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U.S. economy adds 1.8 million jobs in July

Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Chart: Axios Visuals

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Why it matters: The labor market continued to recover but the pace of job growth slowed significantly from June’s 4.8 million job gain, suggesting a stalled improvement as coronavirus cases surged and states pulled back on reopening plans.

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