WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump is expected to fire the heads of the FBI, CIA and Defense Department if he is reelected, according to a report. 

What You Need To Know

  • If reelected, President Trump plans to fire FBI Director Christopher Wray, CIA Director Gina Hapsel and Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Axios reported

  • The president's advisers have cautioned him not to remove any of the officials until after Election Day, the report said

  • While Trump has voiced his displeasure about William Barr, he reportedly has not made any formal plans to replace the attorney general, according to Axios

  • The list of planned replacements is even longer, but Wray, Haspel and Esper are Trump’s top priorities, the report said

Axios reported Sunday that the president wants to remove FBI Director Christopher Wray, CIA Director Gina Hapsel and Defense Secretary Mark Esper but his advisers have cautioned him not to do so until after the election. The news website cited two people who've discussed the officials' fates with the president for its reporting.

Trump would like to replace them with officials he believes won’t interfere with him enacting his desired policies or going after his perceived enemies.

The list of planned replacements is even longer, Axios reported, but those three are Trump’s top priorities. While the president has voiced his displeasure about Attorney General William Barr, he reportedly has not made any formal plans to replace him.

The president would immediately move to replace Wray, Axios reported. The Daily Beast was the first to report earlier this month that the president had indicated to several senior officials and close associates that he intends to fire Wray. 

Trump is reportedly furious with Wray for the FBI staying mum about emails found on a laptop purportedly belonging to Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, and for publicly contradicting the president’s comments on issues such as antifa, voting fraud and Russian election interference. 

Trump also is reportedly angry with Wray for not ridding the FBI of more officials the president believes abused their power to investigate his 2016 campaign’s ties to Russia.

The West Wing does not trust Haspel because, according to one source Axios spoke to, “she still sees her job as manipulating people and outcomes, the way she must have when she was working assets in the field.” Trump also has grown increasingly frustrated with the CIA director for opposing the declassification of documents that might have helped Durham’s investigation, according to Axios.

Trump reportedly lost confidence in Esper this summer after the Defense secretary pushed back against the president’s suggestion of using active-duty military to deal with American protesters and distanced himself from the clearing of Lafayette Square for Trump’s photo op in front of St. John’s Church.