Speaking during a White House dinner, Trump told guests that he intended to formally nominate Blanche for the role.

 “Tomorrow, I’m instructing... that we are going to make him permanent attorney general,” Trump said in remarks shared by White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino.

 Blanche has also led the Justice Department during efforts to establish a proposed $1.8 billion compensation fund, a plan critics described as a “slush fund” for Trump’s political allies.

 The proposed fund emerged from a settlement linked to a lawsuit Trump filed against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), with an additional provision preventing the agency from investigating him over back-tax claims.

 Blanche told Congress that the compensation fund would no longer move forward, although protections related to Trump’s IRS arrangement would remain in place.