NYT's Schmidt: Trump 'views his attorney general as a protector'

The New York Times's Michael Schmidt told MSNBC Friday morning that President TrumpDonald John TrumpApple CEO Tim Cook promises to fight for DACA, user privacy DOJ urges Supreme Court to side with Trump in ongoing legal battle over tax returns Giuliani associate willing to inform Congress of meeting between Nunes and former Ukrainian official: report MORE "views his attorney general as a protector."

"What we learned about is how the president views his attorney general," Schmidt, a Washington correspondent for The New York Times and MSNBC contributor, said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." 

"He views his attorney general as a protector, as someone there to be a buffer and safeguard. He had his White House counsel, his top lawyer, go to the attorney general in March and say, 'Look, don’t recuse yourself from the Russian investigation. There is no reason to do that.'"

"And then after the president found out he was going to recuse, he got extremely angry," he continued. "He said, you know, 'Barack ObamaBarack Hussein ObamaFar-right, anti-Islam group plans to hold event at Mar-a-Lago club Obama: 'Everybody needs to chill out' about differences between 2020 candidates Hill says Soros conspiracy theories are 'new Protocols of the Elders of Zion' MORE had Eric HolderEric Himpton HolderPelosi refers to Sinclair's Rosen as 'Mr. Republican Talking Points' over whistleblower question Krystal Ball: Billionaires panicking over Sanders candidacy Obama celebrates 'great night for our country' after Democrats' victories in Virginia and Kentucky MORE, JFK had RFK. Where is my Roy Cohn?' referring to his long-term personal lawyer and saying, 'Where is this person to protect me?' And that, for us, really provided a window into how he viewed the top law enforcement position, the top person underneath him at a time that the Russia investigation was accelerating."

Schmidt's comments reference a report he published in The New York Times late Thursday, which focused on Trump's desire to stop Sessions from recusing himself in 2017. 

Last July, Trump had complained to Schmidt and fellow New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman in an interview about the decision to recuse by Sessions that eventually led to the appointment of a special counsel led by former FBI Director Robert MuellerRobert (Bob) Swan MuellerTrump says he'll release financial records before election, knocks Dems' efforts House impeachment hearings: The witch hunt continues Speier says impeachment inquiry shows 'very strong case of bribery' by Trump MORE. 

“Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else,” Trump told the reporters in a wide-ranging interview on June 19. 

“Jeff SessionsJefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsMore than 100 Democrats sign letter calling for Stephen Miller to resign Press: Ukraine's not the only outrage To understand death behind bars, we need more information MORE takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself, which frankly I think is very unfair to the president,” he added. “How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, ‘Thanks, Jeff, but I’m not going to take you.’ It’s extremely unfair — and that’s a mild word — to the president," he added. 

Mueller was appointed as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian collusion with Trump campaign associates shortly after the president fired then-FBI Director James ComeyJames Brien ComeyDOJ watchdog expected to say FBI erred, but absolve top leaders of anti-Trump bias: report Trump predicts 'historic' conclusions from DOJ's watchdog report on 'spying' 3 reasons why impeachment fatigue has already set in MORE on May 17.