President Donald Trump on Friday pushed back against reports that he floated the idea of replacing Attorney General Jeff Sessions with embattled EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.
"Do you believe that the Fake News Media is pushing hard on a story that I am going to replace A.G. Jeff Sessions with EPA Chief Scott Pruitt, who is doing a great job but is TOTALLY under siege?" the president tweeted.
On Thursday, CNN reported that Trump talked about replacing Sessions with Pruitt as recently as this week. The report came even as the EPA administrator faced increasing backlash for a string of reports about his conduct at the agency. Despite Pruitt's ethics issues, the president said Thursday that he is doing a "fantastic job."
Trump has repeatedly criticized Sessions, prompting speculation about the president replacing his top law enforcement official. Trump has slammed Sessions for recusing himself from the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, at one point calling him "beleaguered" last year.
Earlier this year, reports suggested Pruitt spoke to confidantes about wanting the attorney general job.