President Donald Trump has announced his intention to nominate Todd Blanche, his former personal lawyer, to serve as United States attorney general on a permanent basis, rewarding a loyal ally who has aggressively advanced his agenda as acting head of the Justice Department. The announcement, made at a White House dinner on Wednesday evening and captured in a video by deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, signals the culmination of a two-month tenure in which Blanche has overseen politically charged prosecutions. Trump declared, “We are going to make him permanent attorney general,” instructing aides to begin the formal nomination process the following day.

Blanche, 51, a former federal prosecutor and New York defence attorney, first rose to prominence representing Trump in three of the four criminal cases he faced before returning to the White House. Since taking the Justice Department’s helm in an acting capacity after Trump dismissed Pam Bondi in April—ostensibly over dissatisfaction with her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files—Blanche has targeted the president’s adversaries. Indictments have been secured against former FBI director James Comey and former Cuban president Raúl Castro, while a proposed $1.8 billion fund to compensate Trump supporters claiming political persecution, including January 6 Capitol rioters, drew sharp bipartisan criticism and was abruptly abandoned this week.

Viewed from Washington, the nomination deepens fears over the politicisation of the Justice Department, with Democrats and legal scholars warning it will become an instrument of retribution. European capitals, while refraining from direct comment, are privately uneasy about the erosion of institutional norms as the transatlantic rule-of-law consensus frays. Arab media have highlighted the Epstein intrigue behind Bondi’s removal, while Chinese coverage frames Blanche’s elevation as proof that personal loyalty trumps independent legal judgement in Trump’s orbit. The global lens reveals shared anxiety that the independence of US law enforcement is being sacrificed to political expediency.

Senate confirmation is far from assured. Blanche’s interim record, especially the compensation fund fiasco, will fuel Democratic opposition and could unsettle institutionalist Republicans. White House officials project confidence, with spokesperson Abigail Jackson calling Blanche “an American patriot” who fought “the Democrats’ unprecedented lawfare campaign.” If confirmed, Blanche would cement a transformation of the Justice Department into a vehicle for executive priorities, marking a defining moment for the rule of law in the United States.