Who is Todd Blanche? What to know about Trump's new interim AG

President Donald Trump has ousted Attorney General Pam Bondi from her post, the White House confirmed on April 2, following mounting frustration with her performance, including her handling of investigative files related to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In a social media post, Trump praised Bondi as a "Great American Patriot and a loyal friend" and said she will move to a job in the private sector. Trump said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, his former personal lawyer, will lead the Justice Department in the interim.

Fox News reported that Bondi was informed of her firing by Trump inside the Oval Office shortly before the president’s address to the nation on April 1. Blanche, who has represented Trump in multiple legal matters, is set to take over the role.

In a post on X, Blanche thanked Bondi for her service and said he would continue “doing everything in our power to keep America safe.”

Here's what to know about Todd Blanche.

Who is Todd Blanche?

Following Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election, Blanche was nominated by Trump to be the deputy attorney general under Bondi. He was confirmed by the Senate in March 2025 by a vote of 52-46.

A former federal prosecutor, Blanche has worked at several prominent law firms, including WilmerHale and Cadwalader and Wickersham & Taft. 

He also spent more than eight years at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where he served as co-chief of the White Plains division.

In 2019, Blanche led the team representing former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort in a New York fraud case, in which he was accused of defrauding banks of more than $1 million by submitting false financial statements when applying for residential mortgage loans. 

The judge ultimately dismissed the charges, but Manafort was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison as a result of two other federal cases.

USA TODAY’s Bart Jansen and Rachel Barber contributed to this report.

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected] and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.