Trump's new DOJ henchman raises alarm with defiant six-word pledge on his loyalty to the president

By BREANNE DEPPISCH, US SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 14:24, 17 August 2026 | Updated: 14:28, 17 August 2026 President Donald Trump's new attorney general sparked criticism Sunday after he declined to pledge independence from the White House as the nation's top prosecutor - just days after he was narrowly confirmed by the US Senate.  'I'm not going to pledge that,' Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a succinct six-word response to NBC News's Kristen Welker on Meet the Press when asked if DOJ would always act independently of the White House. 'And no attorney general should ever pledge that,' he continued.   Blanche further doubled down on this view when asked if the president should have a voice on individual prosecutions - comments that come as DOJ has for months been accused of pursuing criminal investigations against the president's most outspoken political foes. 'Yes, of course,' Trump should have a voice on individual decisions,' Blanche said, though he told Welker that Trump 'never has' and 'never will' ask him to do something illegal. 'The President of the United States, the elected President of the United States, says something to me,' he said. 'And I'm supposed to say to you, 'I would say no.' I mean, that's not the way it works,' Blanche said of the process.  The remarks come after Blanche narrowly survived Senate confirmation earlier this month.  The process was delayed, at least in part, by concerns from Democrats and some Republicans that he might use the department to carry out politically motivated prosecutions - or, in one case, keep alive a sweeping IRS settlement that would shield Trump and his family from tax audits. Others cited concerns about Blanche's role as Trump's former personal attorney.   Attorney General Todd Blanche watches as President Donald Trump speaks at the David Mack Center for Training and Intelligence Then-Acting Attorney General Blanche appeared before his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee  Outgoing Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas stands after voting to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general The 'fundamental problem with Todd Blanche is not that he's inexperienced, not that he's not capable, and not that he's not intelligent,' Senator Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, said in urging his Senate Judiciary Committee colleagues to oppose Blanche earlier this month.  'The problem,' he said, is that Blanche 'has never been able to shed his role as criminal defense lawyer for Donald Trump,' Schiff added. 'He just can't do it.'