Inside Trump's phone call to Matt Gaetz that sealed AG pick's fate

Insiders said the charm offensive went well. Matt Gaetz spent Wednesday in Washington, D.C., with Vice President-elect J.D. Vance meeting 10 key Republican senators he would need to secure his confirmation as Donald Trump's controversial attorney general. 'Feedback from the senators on the meetings was very positive,' said a source close to Vance.

And a day earlier Trump had made clear he had no plan B if it came to a test of strength. 'No,' he told a reporter when asked whether he was reconsidering his choice. But that all unraveled spectacularly on Thursday, when Gaetz announced he was withdrawing from consideration amid the fallout from a federal [sexual intercourse] trafficking investigation. Neither Gaetz nor Trump is known for bowing to negative headlines or public outrage.

But sources close to Trump said it was becomingly increasingly clear that Gaetz was unlikely to make it through the Senate confirmation process with the first wave of appointments. If at all. 'At best this was going to be complicated and drag on into February, March,' said one source. 'And a strong A.G. is central to everything Trump wants to get started on on day one ... immigration, overhauling the D.O.J. ...' Trump did not push him out, but in a call Thursday morning the president-elect laid out the political and numerical reality.