Trump says Ed Martin will not be nominee for DC US Attorney
President Donald Trump said Thursday in the Oval Office that he will soon announce a new nominee for the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, replacing his pick, Ed Martin.
"He is a terrific person. He wasn't getting the support from people that I thought," Trump said during a White House event. "I'm very disappointed in that. But I have so many different things that I'm doing now with the trade. One person, I can only lift that little phone so many times in a day. But we have somebody else that will be great."
Trump said his administration will "have somebody else that we’ll be announcing over the next two days who’s gonna be great.”
Trump tapped Martin in mid-February to stay on permanently as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, a role that requires Senate confirmation.
But Martin's past, specifically his defense of Jan. 6 rioters and inflammatory rhetoric around the Capitol attack, plagued his nomination.
Martin had to apologize in an interview for his past praise of a Jan. 6 rioter who had a lengthy history of antisemitic statements and had infamously posted photos of himself dressed as Adolf Hitler.
Sen. Thom Tillis, a key Republican vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told ABC News this week he would not support Martin and that he had relayed his opposition to the White House.
The opposition from Tillis, who is up for reelection next year, combined with that from all Democrats, could block Martin's nomination from getting out of committee.
Trump stood by choosing Martin and called the waning support for him "disappointing" -- but that ultimately the decision was up to senators.
"They have to follow their heart and they have to follow their mind," Trump said when asked about Martin's uphill battle in the Oval Office on Wednesday.
Martin has been acting interim U.S. attorney since Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20. In that time, he has moved to fire or demote career attorneys who investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and has sent letters to top Democrats and other political opponents threatening them with potential criminal investigations.
Martin's term as interim U.S. attorney, which can only last 120 days, is set to expire on May 20.
-ABC News' Katherine Faulders, Alexander Mallin and Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.
