President Donald Trump offered two words in defense of his scandal-plagued Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt on Thursday.
“I do,” Trump told reporters when asked if he still had confidence in the administrator.
Perhaps he does, for now.
The comment comes amid reports that Trump was unimpressed with Pruitt’s interviews with Fox News and The Washington Examiner on Wednesday. The White House reportedly advised against speaking with the press, as Pruitt scrambled to clean up his image amid ongoing negative reports.
Trump reportedly called Pruitt earlier this week to reassure him of his support when reports surfaced that Pruitt defied the White House in order to get his closes aides a raise and rented a room in a home owned by the wife of an energy lobbyist last year for $50 a day.
Earlier Thursday, White House spokesperson Hogan Gidley told Fox News that he “can’t speak to the future of Scott Pruitt.”