WASHINGTON — President Trump fired Pam Bondi as attorney general on Thursday, ending a tumultuous 14-month tenure marked by mass firings of career prosecutors, a bungled handling of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation and a string of investigations into the president’s political foes, including prominent California Democrats.

Trump announced the ouster of the former Florida attorney general in a Truth Social post, praising her as a “Great American Patriot.” It caps months of controversy surrounding Bondi’s leadership, which critics called an unprecedented assault on the independence of the nation’s top law enforcement agency.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal criminal defense attorney, will serve as acting attorney general until a permanent replacement is named. Blanche, like Bondi, has been a loyal backer of Trump while at the Justice Department.

Blanche has denounced past criminal cases against Trump as baseless and politically motivated, even while championing new criminal cases against Trump’s own political opponents. He has also echoed Trump’s sharp criticisms of the federal judiciary, declaring the Justice Department is at “war” with a cadre of “rogue activist judges.”

Bondi’s dismissal quickly drew sharp reactions from California Democrats, including Reps. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach) and Ro Khanna (D-Fremont), two lawmakers who put immense legislative pressure on Bondi to release the Epstein files and accused her of overseeing a “cover-up.”

In separate statements, Garcia and Khanna said that Bondi remains legally obligated to appear before the House Oversight Committee and testify under oath about what they called a “botched” handling of the Epstein investigation.

“Even though she was fired, she must still answer to Congress about the remaining documents, why we have no new prosecutions, and why she participated in a cover-up,” Khanna said.

News outlets pointed to multiple reasons for Trump’s decision to fire Bondi.

Some reported that it had to do with Trump’s ire over Bondi’s handling of the Epstein files. After Congress passed a law forcing their release, Bondi presided over that release — amid criticisms she was slow-walking it, withholding certain records and overly redacting others.

Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the committee, wrote on X that Bondi and Trump “may think her firing gets her out of testifying to the Oversight Committee,” which she is meant to do April 14, but they “are wrong — and we look forward to hearing from her under oath.”

However, that was in question.

“Since Pam Bondi is no longer attorney general, Chairman Comer will speak with Republican members and the Department of Justice about the status of the deposition subpoena and confer on next steps,” a committee spokeswoman said Thursday, referring to Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.).

The announcement led some to question whether Bondi’s ouster was in part an effort by the White House to keep her from testifying.

Others reported Trump was peeved at her for tipping off Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) that the Justice Department was considering releasing documents from a years-old investigation into his relationship with a suspected Chinese intelligence operative named Christine Fang, or Fang Fang.

Swalwell, a leading California gubernatorial candidate, was not the target of that investigation and cut ties with Fang in 2015 after U.S. intelligence officials briefed him and other members of Congress about Chinese efforts to infiltrate Congress. Swalwell has denied any wrongdoing in the matter, and a release of records from that investigation now would be unusual.

Still other outlets reported that a key factor in Trump’s decision to fire Bondi was her failure to secure criminal indictments and convictions against various Trump political enemies who he has accused with little evidence of wrongdoing and has publicly pushed Bondi and other Justice Department officials to prosecute.

One of those targets is Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), whom Trump accused of committing mortgage fraud by characterizing multiple homes as his primary residence in years-old mortgage documents.

Schiff has denied any wrongdoing and accused Trump of targeting him for political reasons. Justice Department officials have also declined to bring any criminal charges against Schiff to date.

It’s unclear whether that would change under new leadership. Blanche has reportedly been involved in overseeing the Schiff investigation and butted heads with former Justice official Ed Martin, who had zealously investigated Schiff before being removed.

In an X post on Thursday, Schiff cheered Bondi’s ouster but said that she was “merely a symptom of Donald Trump’s chronic allergy to our nation’s laws,” that her being tossed aside “does not mitigate the need for her to answer for her conduct” as attorney general, and that Blanche “should expect to receive the same scrutiny.”

“Pam Bondi oversaw an unprecedented weaponization of the Justice Department that brought our nation’s rule of law to its knees,” Schiff wrote. “Countless and baseless political investigations, hundreds of career law enforcement professionals purged, a massive cover-up of the Epstein files, and a wholesale effort to turn the department into a criminal law firm representing the person of the president instead of the American people.”

Sen. Alex Padilla, a Los Angeles Democrat, said “good riddance” to Bondi in a post on X.

“Bondi dodged transparency on the Epstein files, tried to go after voter rolls to undermine elections, and weaponized the Justice Department against Trump’s enemies,” Padilla said. “Americans deserve accountability, not cover-ups and corruption.”

It was unclear Thursday how long Trump may leave Blanche in the top post. As deputy attorney general, he had a hand in many of the decisions as to the day-to-day operations of the department under Bondi — including on the handling of the Epstein files.

Blanche personally interviewed Epstein’s imprisoned former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, in a federal prison in Florida, where she was serving a 20-year term for helping Epstein sexually abuse young girls. During that interview, Maxwell said she never witnessed Trump in any “inappropriate setting.”

Blanche’s decision to personally interview Maxwell was highly unusual, given how high ranking he was in the Justice Department.

Within days of the interview, which was perceived in part as a ploy for clemency by Maxwell, she was moved to a minimum-security camp in Texas.

President Donald Trump addressed the nation Wednesday night, saying the United States’ “core strategic objectives” in Iran are “nearing completion”—just a month after “Operation Epic Fury” began, and warned that the U.S. will hit Tehran “extremely hard” over the next several weeks.

“Tonight, I’m pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” the president said, touting the United States military and their “extraordinary” efforts.

Here are the top five takeaways from the president’s address: 

Trump says Operation Epic Fury is ‘nearing completion’

President Trump told Americans Wednesday night that after 32 days of Operation Epic Fury, Iran is “essentially really no longer a threat.” 

The president, upon the announcement of Operation Epic Fury, detailed the United States’ objectives. Trump said, “We are systematically dismantling the regime’s ability to threaten America or project power outside of their borders.”

“That means eliminating Iran’s Navy, which is now absolutely destroyed, hurting their Air Force and their missile program at levels never seen before, and annihilating their defense industrial base,” the president said Wednesday night.

INSIDE IRAN’S MILITARY: MISSILES, MILITIAS AND A FORCE BUILT FOR SURVIVAL

“We’ve done all of it,” he continued. “Their Navy is gone. Their Air Force is gone. Their missiles are just about used up or beaten. Taken together, these actions will cripple Iran’s military, crush their ability to support terrorist proxies and deny them the ability to build a nuclear bomb.” 

“Our Armed Forces have been extraordinary,” the president said. “There’s never been anything like it militarily. Everyone is talking about it.” 

“And tonight, I’m pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” he said.

Meanwhile, the president thanked U.S. allies in the Middle East— “Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain.”

“They’ve been great and we will not let them get hurt or fail in any way, shape or form,” he said.

“I’ve made clear from the beginning of Operation Epic Fury that we will continue until our objectives are fully achieved, thanks to the progress we’ve made,” he said. “I can say tonight that we are on track to complete all of America’s military objectives shortly. Very shortly.”

The president warned that the U.S. is “going to hit them extremely hard over the next 2 to 3 weeks.”

“We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong,” he said. “In the meantime, discussions are ongoing. Regime change was not our goal. We never said regime change, but regime change has occurred because of all of their original leaders’ deaths. They’re all dead. The new group is less radical and much more reasonable.”

Trump says rising gas prices in the US are ‘short term’

Since Operation Epic Fury began, gas prices in the United States have increased. The president acknowledged that development, and expressed confidence that those increases are “short term.”

The average price of a gallon of gas surpassed $4 Tuesday, a first since 2022. 

“Many Americans have been concerned to see the recent rise in gasoline prices here at home,” the president said. “The short-term increase has been entirely the result of the Iranian regime launching deranged terror attacks against commercial oil tankers and neighboring countries that have nothing to do with the conflict.”

WHY TRUMP, IRAN SEEM LIGHT-YEARS APART ON ANY POSSIBLE DEAL TO END THE WAR

“This is yet more proof that Iran can never be trusted with nuclear weapons. They will use them and they will use them quickly. It would lead to decades of extortion, economic pain, and instability worse than we can ever imagine,” the president said. “The United States has never been better prepared economically to confront this threat. You all know that we built the strongest economy in history.”

The president touted the economy under his leadership, saying that he has “taken a dead and crippled country—I hate to say that, but we were dead and crippled country after the last administration—and made it the hottest country anywhere in the world by far, with no inflation, record-setting investments coming into the United States, over $18 trillion and the highest stock market ever with 53 all-time record highs in just one year.”

The president said those economic gains “all positioned us to get rid of a cancer that has long simmered.”

“It’s known as the nuclear Iran, and they didn’t know what was coming. They’ve never imagined it,” he said. “Remember, because of our drill baby drill program, America has plenty of gas. We have so much gas.”

The president said that, under his leadership, the U.S. is the “number one producer of oil and gas on the planet without even discussing the millions of barrels that we’re getting from Venezuela because of the Trump administration’s policies. We produce more oil and gas than Saudi Arabia and Russia combined.”

“Think of that— Saudi Arabia and Russia combined,” he continued. “And that number will soon be substantially higher than that. There’s no country like us anywhere in the world.”

The president stressed that “the hard part is done.”

“When this conflict is over, the strait will open up. Naturally. It’ll just open up naturally. They’re going to want to be able to sell oil because that’s all they have to try and rebuild,” he said. “It will resume the flowing and the gas prices will rapidly come back down.”

The president said it was necessary to “take that little journey to Iran to get rid of this horrible threat with our historic tax cuts, where people are just now talking about receiving larger refunds than they ever thought possible, they are getting so much more money than they thought. That’s from the great big, beautiful bill.”

He added: “Our economy is strong and improving by the day and it will soon be roaring back like never before. It will top the levels that it was a month ago.”

Trump thanks US troops for work in Middle East, Venezuela

The president began his address Wednesday night by thanking U.S. troops for “the massive job they did in taking the country of Venezuela in a matter of minutes.”

“That hit was quick, lethal, violent and respected by everyone all over the world,” Trump said, referring to the January operation.

“We’re working along with Venezuela are, in a true sense, joint venture partners,” Trump said. “We’re getting along incredibly well in the production and sale of massive amounts of oil and gas—The second largest reserves on Earth after the United States of America.”

POLL POSITION: WHERE TRUMP STANDS AMONG AMERICANS AS HE FACES THE NATION IN PRIMETIME

Shifting to Operation Epic Fury and the progress made, the president honored “the 13 American warriors who have laid down their lives and this fight to prevent our children from ever having to face a nuclear Iran.”

“Twice this past month, I have traveled to Dover Air Force Base, and it’s been something I wanted to be with those heroes as they return to American soil,” he said. “And I was with them and their families, their parents, their wives, their husbands.”

“We salute them, and now we must honor them by completing the mission for which they gave their lives,” the president said. “And every single one of the people, their loved one said, please, sir, please finish the job, every one of them, and we are going to finish the job and we’re going to finish it very fast. We’re getting very close.”

Trump urges Americans to keep the Iran conflict ‘in perspective’

“It’s very important that we keep this conflict in perspective,” the president said. “American involvement in World War One lasted one year, seven months and five days.”

“World War Two lasted for three years, eight months and 25 days,” He continued. “The Korean War lasted for three years, one month and two days. The Vietnam War lasted for 19 years, five months and 29 days.”

“Iraq went on for eight years, eight months and 28 days,” the president said.

“We are in this military operation, so powerful, so brilliant against one of the most powerful countries for 32 days,” he said. “And the country has been eviscerated and essentially is really no longer a threat.”

FOX NEWS LIVE UPDATES ON THE U.S. WAR WITH IRAN

Trump said that Iran was “the bully of the Middle East, but they’re the bully no longer.”

“This is a true investment in your children and your grandchildren’s future,” he said. “The whole world is watching and they can’t leave the power, strength and brilliance. They just can’t believe what they’re seeing. They leave it to your imagination, but they can’t believe what they’re seeing—The brilliance of the United States military.”

He added: “Tonight, every American can look forward to a day when we are finally free from the wickedness of Iranian aggression and the specter of nuclear blackmail. Because of the actions we have taken, we are on the cusp of ending Iran’s sinister threat to America and the world. And I’ll tell you, the world is watching.”

Trump rips into Obama’s Iran Nuclear Deal

President Trump said ending former President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal was among his top achievements as president, telling the nation he was “honored” to do it.

“I terminated Barack Hussein Obama’s Iran nuclear deal disaster,” Trump said. “Obama gave them $1.7 billion in cash. Green, green cash took it out of banks from Virginia, DC and Maryland. All the cash they had.”

The president went on to say that Obama “flew it by airplanes in an attempt to buy their respect and loyalty. But it didn’t work.”

“They laughed at our president and went on with their mission to have a nuclear bomb,” Trump said. “His Iran deal would have led to a colossal arsenal of massive nuclear weapons for Iran, and they would have had them years ago, and they would have used him, would have been a different world.”

The president said, “There would have been no Middle East and no Israel right now, in my opinion, the opinion of a lot of great experts, had I not terminated that terrible deal that I was so honored to do it.”

“I was so proud to do it It was so bad right from the beginning,” he said. “Essentially, I did what no other president was willing to do.”

He added: “They made mistakes and I am correcting them.”

The president said his “first preference was always the path of diplomacy, yet the regime continued their relentless quest for nuclear weapons and rejected every attempt at an agreement.”

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“For this reason, in June, I ordered a strike on Iran’s key nuclear facilities and Operation Midnight Hammer. And nobody’s ever seen anything like it. Those beautiful B-2 bombers performed magnificently,” he said. “We totally obliterated those nuclear sites.”

But the president said the Iranian regime “then sought to rebuild their nuclear program at a totally different location, making clear they had no intention of abandoning their pursuit of nuclear weapons.”