How Did Pam Bondi Meet Trump? Inside Their Longstanding Friendship

Donald Trump's cabinet picks imploded early on, thanks to scandals involving both Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Matt Gaetz. The latter was all set to be Trump's attorney general but Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration amid a brewing scandal, after the House Ethics Committee discovered that he paid more than $90,000 to women for sex and drugs, and at least one of them was underage at the time. In Gaetz's place, the president chose Pam Bondi for the role. In Trump's Truth Social announcement, he enthused, "I have known Pam for many years — She is smart and tough, and is an AMERICA FIRST Fighter, who will do a terrific job as Attorney General!"

Through all the ups and downs of Trump's presidency and his own legal troubles, Bondi has remained unflinchingly loyal, which is one of the traits that the divisive politician clearly values quite highly. It's likely that they originally met in Florida since Bondi attended both undergraduate and law school there, and Trump has owned Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, since 1985. We don't know exactly when they met, or whether it was because of their shared social circles or before Bondi was elected attorney general in 2010. 

We do know that in 2013, Trump, via his foundation, donated $25,000 in support of Bondi's campaign. Notably, it was the same year that the New York attorney general moved ahead with legal action against the then defunct Trump University, one of the many Trump family lawsuits. Not long after the donation, Bondi's team declined to move forward with a similar investigation in Florida, a move which some people found to be pretty suspect. Bondi strongly denied any wrongdoing or link between the money and her decision.

When asked about the dodgy donation in 2016, Donald Trump reasoned, "I've just known Pam Bondi for years. I have a lot of respect for her. Never spoke to her about that at all. [...] And she has done an amazing job as the attorney general of Florida. She is very popular," (via The Washington Post). A few years later, once Bondi emerged victorious, and during Trump's initial run for the presidency in 2016, the Florida politician publicly endorsed him. Later that same year, Bondi spoke at the Republican National Convention where she helped lead the crowd in one of their infamous "lock her up!" chants about his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. 

She was then hired as one of Trump's lawyers during his first impeachment trial in 2019, which centered around the president's alleged actions in regards to tying Ukrainian aid to an investigation by that country into Joe Biden. He was ultimately acquitted. It's worth noting that some of Bondi's actions as Florida's attorney general seem to mirror Trump's own political stances, including her work to get rid of the Affordable Care Act (a platform that he campaigned on). In November 2020, Bondi also supported Trump's unfounded claims that Biden had won the election unfairly. Thus, it seems as though her continued allegiance has been rewarded.

Even though Bondi isn't facing the same problematic sexual misconduct accusations that caused Matt Gaetz, her boss's previous pick, to drop out as a potential attorney general, Bondi has been involved in her own bizarre controversy. She was caught up in a disagreement over the custody of a dog Bondi rescued after Hurricane Katrina, whose owners claimed she'd robbed it.