President Trump announces ‘tremendous’ UK trade deal
President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with the U.K., the first trade agreement since he imposed sweeping tariffs in April.
President Donald Trump tapped now former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to replace Ed Martin in the role of U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C.
Trump announced the move on Truth Social, the social media outlet he owns, on May 8, saying that she would take over the role on an interim basis. Trump did not say if he would put her up for nomination to the Senate to take the role permanently.
Trump told reporters he would pull Martin’s nomination earlier in the day, saying, “we have somebody else that will be great,” during a White House event unveiling a U.S.-United Kingdom trade deal. “Ed is unbelievable and hopefully we can bring him into – whether it’s DOJ or whatever, in some capacity.”
Martin’s confirmation was in question after Judiciary Committee Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said he would not support him serving as the top U.S. attorney in the district that spent the last several years after the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot prosecuting Jan. 6 cases.
In a later Truth Social post, Trump made Martin the Director of the Weaponization Working Group, Associate Deputy Attorney General, and Pardon Attorney at the Department of Justice.
The move to replace Martin with Pirro faced immediate criticism from liberals, who likened the nominees for the powerful role to each other.
“Jeanine Pirro is the made-for-TV version of Ed Martin. Like Ed Martin, she lacks the experience and temperament for the job. Like Ed Martin, her primary qualification is her unfailing sycophancy,” Emily Peterson-Cassin, director of corporate power at pro-democracy group Demand Progress, said in a statement to USA TODAY.
Jeanine Pirro held county judgeship before Fox News role
Pirro was elected as Westchester County Court Judge in 1990 before being elected the county’s district attorney in 1993, according to her Fox News biography.
She ran two failed statewide campaigns in New York during the 2006 midterms, withdrawing in 2005 from the race that would hand Hillary Clinton her Senate seat and losing the Attorney General race to Andrew Cuomo.
When did Jeanine Pirro join Fox News?
Pirro was a mainstay on the right-wing network since joining in 2006, most recently being a host on “The Five.”
She began at the network as a legal analyst and hosted “Justice with Judge Jeanine” for 11 years, starting in 2011.
In 2018, Pirro, along with fellow Fox News star Sean Hannity, appeared with Trump at his final campaign rally of that year’s midterm cycle.
“If you like the America that (Trump) is making now, you’ve got to make sure you get out there tomorrow if you haven’t voted yet,” Pirro said, according to The Hill.
She drew a rare rebuke from the network in 2019 when she questioned if Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar’s Muslim faith would prevent her from being able to support the constitution, CNN reported at the time.
Pirro was named in a 2021 lawsuit by electronic voting systems company Smartmatic for spreading false claims that the company tilted the 2020 election in favor of former President Joe Biden. The case was initially dismissed in 2022, but was reinstated in 2023.
“Jeanine Pirro has been a wonderful addition to The Five over the last three years and a longtime beloved host across FOX News Media who contributed greatly to our success throughout her 14-year tenure,” the network said in a statement to USA TODAY. “We wish her all the best in her new role in Washington.”
Contributing: Ayesha Bagchi, Francesa Chambers − USA TODAY, Reuters