Trump announces withdrawal of Ed Martin’s nomination for U.S. Attorney in D.C., implicates Tillis

President Donald Trump held a press conference in the Oval Office on Thursday morning to announce a significant trade deal between the U.S. and the U.K. Following the announcement, he engaged in a question and answer session with the press. 

During the press conference, there was an unexpected revelation. Trump revealed his decision to withdraw Ed Martin’s nomination as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Although Trump spoke highly of Martin, he acknowledged that facing resistance from some Republicans was hindering his confirmation. While Trump did not explicitly mention Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), it was apparent that he was alluding to him. 

Trump provides an update on his nominee for U.S. Attorney:

“He’s [Ed Martin] a terrific person. He wasn’t getting the support from the people that I thought….I’m very disappointed in that…

…We have somebody else that will be good…

….I just want to say it is… pic.twitter.com/lLc4UjqdQY

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 8, 2025

REPORTER: [Regarding] your nominee for U.S. Attorney of D.C., do you have a back-up plan if this —

TRUMP: Despite my appreciation for him, he wasn’t receiving the necessary support from individuals I anticipated. He has performed admirably, with a notable 25% decrease in crime in D.C. under his tenure. 

I’m very disappointed in that, but I have so many different things that I’m doing now with the trade — you know, I’m one person, I can only make — boom, I can only lift that little phone so many times in a day. But we have somebody else that will be great. 

I just want to say Ed is unbelievable, and hopefully we can bring him into — whether it’s DOJ or whatever — in some capacity, because [he’s] really outstanding. It was — to me, it was disappointing, I’ll be honest; I have to be straight — I was disappointed. A lot of people were disappointed, but that’s the way it works sometimes, you know, that’s the way it works. And he wasn’t rejected, but we felt it would be very — it would be hard. And we have somebody else that we’ll be announcing over the next two days who’s going to be great.

This news comes following Tillis’ indication that he wouldn’t support the nomination. Tillis sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, so his refusal to support Martin essentially blocked his being voted out of committee to the full Senate.