President Trump said Friday that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is not “blameless” for the scandals that have preoccupied him for the last several months, but said Pruitt is still doing a “great job.”
“Scott Pruitt is doing a great job within the walls of EPA, I mean we’re setting records,” Trump told reporters before leaving for the G7 meeting in Canada when asked about Pruitt. “Outside, he is being attacked very viciously by the press. And I’m not saying that he is blameless, but we’ll see what happens.”
Reports emerged this week from White House officials indicating that the president is not considering firing Pruitt despite the flurry of scandals surrounding him. Trump has also continued to argue that he feels Pruitt is doing a good job, although Trump has sometimes signaled that people’s time is almost up by saying “we’ll see what happens.”
“EPA is doing really, really well,” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting Wednesday at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “Somebody has to say that. You know that, Scott.”
Odd revelations about Pruitt requests and decisions have emerged recently, like asking an EPA aide to pick up a mattress for him from the Trump International Hotel and asking his security detail to pick up body lotion.
