--- title: James Comey Fired: Trump Said He Always Intended to Oust Him description: President Trump said that he was planning on firing FBI Director James Comey regardless of recommendations from the Justice Department canonical: https://time.com/4776056/james-comey-fired-donald-trump-responds-rod-rosenstein/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-11T17:38:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:13.976Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump: I Was Going to Fire Comey 'Regardless of Recommendations' og:description: "He's a showboat, he's a grandstander, the FBI has been in turmoil" og:url: https://time.com/4776056/james-comey-fired-donald-trump-responds-rod-rosenstein/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt871636a701e12967/6988cceb8fd2eeb9d335702b/lester-holt-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5336 og:image:height: 3002 og:image:alt: 170511_Lester Hold Donald Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump: I Was Going to Fire Comey 'Regardless of Recommendations' twitter:description: "He's a showboat, he's a grandstander, the FBI has been in turmoil" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt871636a701e12967/6988cceb8fd2eeb9d335702b/lester-holt-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump: I Was Going to Fire James Comey 'Regardless of Recommendations' > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, twice weekly), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=0b53daa9-373b-445d-b715-cfc7801b268c&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Comparing James Comey's Firing to Richard Nixon [Watch (HLS stream): Comparing James Comey's Firing to Richard Nixon](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/rzpxxq3y.m3u8) (1:55)  _Published 2017-05-11. When President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey Tuesday, people were quick to cry Nixon._  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson May 11, 2017 5:38 PM UTC  Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump shakes hands Moderator Lester Holt, anchor of NBC Nightly News, following the presidential debate with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., Monday, Sept. 26, 2016. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump shakes hands Moderator Lester Holt, anchor of NBC Nightly News, following the presidential debate with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., Monday, Sept. 26, 2016. Patrick Semansky—AP  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson May 11, 2017 5:38 PM UTC [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/4775731/merriam-webster-donald-trump-priming-the-pump/) said Thursday that he was planning on firing James Comey regardless of recommendations from the top ranking officials in the Justice Department, further contradicting initial reports from the White House about the FBI Director’s ouster. Trump told [NBC News’ Lester Holt t](https://twitter.com/NBCNightlyNews/status/862713274676072448)hat he had plans to fire Comey before meeting with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Monday, even though he cited recommendations from Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions in his letter to Comey rationalizing his ouster. “Regardless of recommendation I was going to fire Comey,” he said. “He’s a showboat, he’s a grandstander, [the FBI ](http://time.com/4775707/andrew-mccabe-congress-testimony/)has been in turmoil.” Trump’s account differs from what his surrogates initially said on Tuesday, that he was simply accepting recommendations from the Department of Justice. “The Director of the FBI reports to the Deputy Attorney General … he made a determination that the FBI Director had lost his confidence, made a recommendation to the Attorney General, the Attorney General concurred with that and forwarded that recommendation today on to the President, who agreed with the Attorneys General, and terminated the FBI director’s position at the FBI,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday. But on Wednesday, the White House altered the narrative to align more with Trump’s latest rationale, with [Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders](http://time.com/4774493/james-comey-fired-donald-trump-election/) claiming Trump has been thinking about firing Comey since he was elected. Trump also thanked Comey in his letter firing him for telling he wasn’t under investigation, an exchange he said happened three times. Trump recounted those three instances instances to Holt, telling him one of those conversations happened at a dinner shortly after he was elected, and the other two happened during telephone calls. “I actually asked him,” Trump said. “I said ‘if its possible will you let me know if I’m under investigation?’ He said, ‘you are not under investigation'” ## Transcript Well I'm not a crook. On October 20th, 1973, President Nixon ordered Justice Department officials to fire Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox who had been appointed to investigate the Watergate scandal. Both the attorney general and the deputy attorney general refused the president's orders and resigned. Nixon's new acting attorney general. Robert Bork complied and fired Cox, which effectively dismantled the investigation. Cox's firing prompted heavy criticism, and was seen as a key point in the events that led to Nixon's eventual resignation. [ MUSIC ] I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow. Vice President Ford Will be sworn in as president, at that hour, in this office. More than 40 years later, the Trump Administration has been clouded by an ongoing FBI investigation into potential communications between members of his campaign, and Russia during the 2016 election. The FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission Is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. Trump fired James Comey shortly after Comey requested more resources for the agency's Russia probe. Why did you fire Director Comey? Because he wasn't doing a good job, very simply. He was not doing a good job. But while many people have drawn parallels, historians note the two situations are not exactly the same, as Nixon did not fire the head of the FBI. 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