In a baffling post last month, president Donald Trump made what appeared to be an extremely confrontational plea to his attorney general Pam Bondi. His message, addressed to “Pam” in a post on his public feed, urged the top cop to indict James Comey, the former director of the FBI.
“Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done,'” Trump railed on Truth Social, a social media company that he owns. “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!! President DJT.”
At the time, some suspected the highly personal post was meant to be a private message which the President had bungled, instead blasting it out to the entire world. Then again, that type of fumble would be pretty extraordinary, even for Trump — would a sitting president really be conducting official businesses through his own social media app, consequences be damned?
Luckily, the Wall Street Journal has now set the record straight. According to the paper’s sources inside the White House, the post was indeed meant for Bondi’s eyes only. One anonymous official said Trump was “surprised” when he learned it was public, because he had specifically addressed it to “Pam.”
If that sounds too dumb to be true, remember Trump is known to be digitally illiterate, not knowing how to use a computer and once boasting that his son Barron is capable of turning on a laptop, as if that were a sign of technical acumen.
For her part, Bondi was reportedly furious. As the WSJ writes, she quickly called White House staffers and Trump, who ended up sending a followup post an hour later saying the attorney general was doing a “GREAT job.”
Comey, a hobbyhorse of Trump’s ever since his involvement in the infamous Steele Dossier, was indicted five days later on federal charges.
Meanwhile, Trump’s tenuous grasp of social media continues to unravel. On Thursday, a photojournalist with the Associated Press captured a handwritten note from the visibly nervous secretary of state Marco Rubio, instructing the president to make a social media post.
“You need to approve a Truth Social post soon so you can announce deal first,” the note read, referencing the Israel-Hamas Peace Plan.
About ten minutes later, the president made his awkward exit.
“I have to go now to try and solve some problems in the Middle East — although I’m very well represented by our secretary of state,” Trump told the right-wing influencers he was meeting with. “He could probably do an even better job than me, but who knows.”
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