By ÉRIC TUCKER

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump lavished Christopher Wray with praise when he named him director of the FBI in 2017presenting him as an “impeccably qualified person” and a “model of integrity”.

So much has changed in the seven years since.

With Trump poised to win back the White House, Wray’s days as director could be numbered. Although the director’s term is 10 years, Trump’s scathing and repeated criticisms of his own nomination raises the likelihood that Trump would replace Wray upon taking office or that Wray would leave on his own to avoid being fired. Such a move would give Trump a chance to reshape the FBI’s leadership in his image, at a time when he is threatening to pursue his own political adversaries.

“He loves his job, he’s dedicated to the bureau, he’s an exceptional public servant — but I don’t think he’ll push for the job,” said Gregory Brower, a former FBI official who served as its director of affairs. of Congress until 2018. said de Wray.

“If the new president wants to replace him, then that’s what he will do,” he added. “Based on what Trump has said in the past, I think it’s likely we’ll see it.”

Trump’s transition office did not respond to an email seeking comment. An FBI official said Wray continues to oversee the bureau’s day-to-day operations – including visiting the FBI’s election command post several times this week – and plans with his team to lead the workforce during the next year. The official, an executive who interacts daily with Wray, was not authorized to publicly discuss details and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Trump has not spoken publicly about Wray in recent days, but he is known to have a particularly keen interest in the FBI and the Justice Department, in part because his the first term and life after the presidency were clouded by investigations, including two which gave rise to indictments which should now be brought to an end. These positions are being closely watched because those who occupy them could face Trump’s stated desire to exact revenge on his opponents, even if long-standing guardrails complicate such plans, and because the FBI faces broader threats than ever in recent memory.

A recent Supreme Court opinion granting broad immunity on former presidents could also encourage Trump to demand special investigations from the Justice Department, as happened during his first term.

Wray was appointed in June 2017 to replace James Comey, the FBI director that Trump inherited from President Barack Obama and then fired amid an investigation into ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign. Prominent Republican lawyer who served as a senior Justice Department official in George W. Bush administration, Wray was recommended to Trump by Chris Christie after representing the then-governor of New Jersey in an investigation into the closure of the George Washington Bridge.

“In 2017, the president wanted an FBI director with bipartisan support and a reputation for integrity, who would maintain a low public profile and defer to the attorney general,” said Rod Rosenstein, deputy attorney general. at the time of Wray’s appointment, in a statement. email to AP this week,

It didn’t take long for Wray to anger Trump.

In 2018, he broke with Trump over the administration’s declassification of information related to FBI surveillance of a former campaign aide. Page Carter. He then angered Trump following his congressional testimony. who highlighted the threat of election interference of Russia at a time when Trump was focused on China. He also described antifageneric term designating left-wing activists, as an ideology rather than an organization, contradicting Trump, who wanted to designate it as a terrorist group.

Wray’s job was in a precarious position at the time of Trump’s 2020 election defeat, with Trump refusing before the election to give Wray a vote of confidence and his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., posting online that Wray was working to “protect corrupt Democrats.” .” But the president left it in place.

Trump’s view of the FBI’s leadership deteriorated further in 2022 after agents searched his Florida home for classified documents, an action that resulted in an indictment on dozens of charges. Last summer, Trump criticized the FBI for not immediately confirming that he had been shot during an assassination attempt and even used social media to call on Wray to resign after the director be guarantor of the president. Joe Biden mental acuity during a congressional hearing.