President Trump on Monday said he had a “good talk” with Rod Rosenstein, further dampening speculation that the president will fire his deputy attorney general.
{mosads}Trump invited Rosenstein to fly with him aboard Air Force One to a law enforcement convention in Florida, and he later told the audience their conversation went well.
“The press wants to know, ‘what did you talk about?’ But we had a very good talk, I will say it,” Trump said during a speech to the International Association of Chiefs of Police in Orlando.
Trump and Rosenstein spoke for roughly 45 minutes aboard the president’s aircraft and their discussion touched on law enforcement and border issues as well as “general DOJ business,” according to the White House. Trump’s chief of staff John Kelly and Rosenstein’s top deputy, Ed O’Callaghan, also participated.
Rosenstein’s future has been an open questions for several weeks since The New York Times published an explosive report saying he discussed secretly taping Trump last year as well as using the 25th Amendment to oust him from office.
The No. 2 Justice Department official has repeatedly denied the story, but also reportedly offered to resign.
“That became a very big story, actually, folks. We had a good talk,” Trump said.
Before leaving the White House earlier Monday, Trump said he has no plans to fire Rosenstein.
He also said he would meet with Rosenstein following the article’s publication but that discussion was delayed while the White House focused on confirming Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. The judge was confirmed by the Senate on Saturday.
Rosenstein oversees the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, a probe Trump has repeatedly denounced as a “witch hunt.” The president has also attacked Rosenstein on multiple occasions.
Updated at 2:37 p.m.