President Trump met with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Thursday amid speculation his job could be in jeopardy.
The White House said the meeting was arranged to discuss “routine [Justice] Department business.”
Trump has railed against Rosenstein since Monday, when the FBI raided the home, office and hotel room of the president’s personal attorney in part due to a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller’s team.
Rosenstein is tasked with overseeing the Mueller probe into Russia’s election interference and reportedly signed off on the raid.
Trump has faced calls from a chorus of outside allies, including ousted chief strategist Stephen Bannon, to fire Rosenstein in an effort to thwart the Mueller probe.
The president has personally attacked Rosenstein for extending a surveillance warrant on a former Trump campaign associate who was caught up in the Russia investigation.
“Much of the bad blood with Russia is caused by the Fake & Corrupt Russia Investigation, headed up by the all Democrat loyalists, or people that worked for Obama,” Trump tweeted Wednesday. “Mueller is most conflicted of all (except Rosenstein who signed FISA & Comey letter). No Collusion, so they go crazy!”
Rosenstein, a former U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland, is a Republican whom Trump nominated to serve as the No. 2 official at the Justice Department.
Court filings indicate Rosenstein is working closely with the special counsel, with Mueller seeking his approval for new lines of inquiry. Rosenstein has repeatedly said he sees no cause for firing Mueller.
The president has sent conflicting signals about whether he plans to change his approach toward the special counsel’s investigation.
Trump tweeted Thursday that he has confidence in Ty Cobb, the embattled White House lawyer handling the Russia probe. Cobb has urged Trump to cooperate with the investigation and warned him against firing Mueller or other figures leading it.
– Updated at 5 p.m.