Trump doesn’t offer vote of confidence for FBI director

President Trump on Friday would not say if he plans to keep or remove FBI Director Christopher Wray, expressing displeasure with his testimony to Congress about foreign election interference and domestic terror threats for a second straight day.

“We’re looking at a lot of different things,” Trump told reporters when asked if he’d like to replace Wray, who was appointed to his role in 2017.

“I did not like his answers yesterday, and I’m not sure he liked them either,” Trump continued. “I’m sure he probably would agree with me. Antifa’s bad. Really bad. And if you look at it, who’s the big problem? The big problem is China. And we could have others also … but the big problem is China. And why he doesn’t want to say that, that certainly bothers me.”

By contrast, Trump praised Attorney General William Barr as “tough” and “smart,” adding that “I think he agrees with me on this stuff.”

Friday’s comments mark Trump’s latest criticism of Wray and further cast doubt on the director’s standing in the administration.

Wray on Thursday testified before the House Homeland Security Committee, where he told lawmakers that anarchists who identify with the antifa movement are a real threat, but are “just one part” of the bureau’s investigations into domestic terror. The probes are also focused on “racially motivated violent extremists” and others, Wray said.

The director further testified on the subject of foreign interference in November’s election, saying Russia has been “very active” in trying to influence November’s election by sowing divisiveness and attempting to “denigrate” Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

Trump has taken issue with both pieces of testimony, tweeting about them late Thursday and bringing them up again on Friday. He has questioned why Wray did not put more emphasis on China’s attempts to sway the election, and the president has expressed dismay that the FBI director did not come down harder on antifa.

Asked Friday about his repeated disagreements with his own administration officials, including Wray and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield, Trump said “in many cases” he knows better than the experts.