Trump Decides to Fire Jeff Sessions Later

It’s hardly a secret that President Donald Trump absolutely hates Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ guts to hell. Having said that, however, the man who became a television star for telling people they were fired admitted to Bloomberg News on Thursday that he won’t actually be getting rid of Sessions for at least two more months.

Speaking with Bloomberg, Trump was asked point blank about longstanding rumors that he would fire his favorite administration whipping boy, who has raised the president’s ire by recusing himself from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. (Trump also reportedly doesn’t like the way Sessions says words.)

Here’s how he responded:

I just would love to have him do a great job.

Golly, isn’t that nice. Do a great job! We should all be so lucky as to have such a supportive boss and mentor. When asked whether Sessions would remain Attorney General after the upcoming midterm elections, however, Trump was decidedly less affirming. Instead, Bloomberg reports, “he declined to comment.”

If and when Sessions is booted from Trump’s cabinet, he’ll have joined a long, and ignominious line of administration officials who are reportedly jumping ship in the coming months. Among them: Chief White House Counsel Don McGahn, White House Ethics Counsel Stefan Passantino (bet you didn’t know Trump had one of those, did you?), and possibly even Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, her chief deputy Raj Shah, and the perennially on-the-chopping-block Chief of Staff John Kelly—despite his having insisted that he plans to stay in his position through 2020.

As some observers have noted, the mass exodus (think: Rats, ship) are creating a significant brain drain in the White House, with plenty of exits, but few masochists lining up to step in and fill the gaps.

Still, if you’re Jeff Sessions, you’ve gotta be breathing at least slightly easier. With at least two months left until his inevitable forced expiration date, there’s still plenty of racist, reactionary, and all-around garbage policies he can ram through before his time in the Trump administration is up.