In May 2026, a claim circulated online that U.S. President Donald Trump credited acting Attorney General Todd Blanche with keeping him "out of jail for years."
Social media users shared a video clip that appeared to show Trump saying, "We have a man who is doing a great job, I'll tell you. I knew it! Because he kept me out of jail for years. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, he kept me out of jail."
The quote was correctly attributed to Trump.
The president made the statement while delivering remarks to law enforcement officials at the White House on May 11, 2026, in honor of National Police Week. The full speech was available to view on C-SPAN and the quote in question occurred around the 8:15 mark.
Trump was touting members of his cabinet and their alleged successes when he mentioned Blanche, apparently as a segue to criticize his opponents and discuss his legal troubles. The following is an excerpt from his remarks (emphasis ours):
We have a man who is doing a great job, I'll tell you. I knew it! Because he kept me out of jail for years. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, he kept me out of jail. They would indict me left and right, the crooked Democrats. You know, it's amazing. They impeach me, they indict me, and then when I get in office, if I say something like, "Well, maybe that should be looked into..." "Weaponization!" I go through court cases, I win them because they were fake indictments, but when I even mention... Like I said the other day that some of that stuff should be looked into, they said, "Weaponization! He's a terrible human being!" They blame me for weaponization. They are a crooked bunch.
In response to Snopes' request for comment on the specifics of Trump's remarks about Blanche, a White House official said via email, "Todd Blanche fearlessly fought against the Democrats' unprecedented and politically motivated lawfare campaign against President Trump."
Blanche joined Trump's legal counsel in 2024 after giving up a partner position at a Manhattan legal firm and switching his political party affiliation from Democrat to Republican, according to The New York Times.
The future acting attorney general stepped in as one of Trump's primary attorneys after two of his lawyers resigned following the president's 2023 indictment for possession of classified documents after the conclusion of his first term in office.
Blanche led the defense for Trump's 2024 criminal trial, which resulted in a conviction on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records linked to a hush money scheme involving adult actress Stormy Daniels.
Trump was ultimately sentenced to a non-punitive unconditional discharge 10 days before his inauguration in January 2025, which means the conviction remained on Trump's record, but he would pay no fines and serve no jail time.
Trump's recent comments suggested he credited Blanche for this outcome, but NPR reported that prosecutors in the case actually recommended the unconditional discharge "as a way to ensure the trial's finality and respect the jury's verdict" while allowing Trump to proceed with his second term as president.