--- title: EPA Head Scott Pruitt Once Bashed Donald Trump as Threat description: EPA head Scott Pruitt bashed Trump as a populist who threatened the rule of law in a 2016 radio interview brought to light Tuesday canonical: https://time.com/5125763/scott-pruitt-donald-trump-epa/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-30T22:51:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:04:49.597Z article:section: Politics og:title: EPA Head Scott Pruitt Once Bashed Donald Trump as Threat og:description: EPA head Scott Pruitt bashed Trump as a populist who threatened the rule of law in a 2016 radio interview brought to light Tuesday og:url: https://time.com/5125763/scott-pruitt-donald-trump-epa/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteaa6d95cbecb7735/6988e2e0ab6d7764916b04e6/voss-pruitt-epa-administrator-32.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: EPA Head Scott Pruitt Once Bashed Donald Trump as Threat twitter:description: EPA head Scott Pruitt bashed Trump as a populist who threatened the rule of law in a 2016 radio interview brought to light Tuesday twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteaa6d95cbecb7735/6988e2e0ab6d7764916b04e6/voss-pruitt-epa-administrator-32.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # EPA Head Scott Pruitt Once Said Donald Trump Would Be 'Abusive' to the Constitution > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Here Are the Promises President Trump Kept and Broke in His First Year [Watch (HLS stream): Here Are the Promises President Trump Kept and Broke in His First Year](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aVz1krc8.m3u8) (2:11)  _Published 2018-01-20. Donald Trump was elected president after a campaign of bold promises. Voters responded to his sweeping assurances on everything from health care to immigration and his overall pledge to Make America Great Again._  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jan 30, 2018 10:51 PM UTC  Scott Pruitt, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency at the EPA Headquarters in Washington, DC on October 18, 2017. Scott Pruitt, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency at the EPA Headquarters in Washington, DC on October 18, 2017. Stephen Voss for TIME  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jan 30, 2018 10:51 PM UTC Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt has [earned his place](http://time.com/4998279/company-man-in-washington/) as a trusted advisor to President Trump, but in a 2016 radio interview [brought to light](http://documentedinvestigations.org/2018/01/30/scott-pruitt-trump-audio/) Tuesday Pruitt bashed Trump as a populist who appealed to “disaffected” and a threat to the rule of law. “Donald Trump in the White House would be more abusive to the Constitution than Barack Obama – and that’s saying a lot,” Pruitt said on the Pat Campbell Show, an Oklahoma talk radio program, in February 2016\. “If Donald Trump is the nominee and eventually the president, he would take, I think unapologetic steps, to use executive power to confront Congress in a way that is truly unconstitutional.” Pruitt’s tone has changed since coming to Washington. The former Oklahoma attorney general has succeeded in launching a widespread effort at undoing Obama-era regulations and has repeatedly praised Trump as the driving force behind those efforts. Pruitt often likens his agenda as part of a broader federalist agenda to give power back to the states and undo overreach from federal agencies. When confronted with the 2016 interview during a Senate hearing Tuesday, Pruitt said he did not recall the comments and does not agree with them today. “After meeting him, and now having the honor of working for him, it is abundantly clear that President Trump is the most consequential leader of our time,” Pruitt said in a statement. “No one has done more to advance the rule of law than President Trump.” The interview — which aired early in the 2016 presidential nominating process — resurfaced this week in a report from the group Documented Investigations and represents the latest in a string of controversies surrounding the EPA administrator. Pruitt has come under fire for a range of reasons from [questioning](http://time.com/4990265/scott-pruitt-clean-power-plan-epa/) the science of climate change to using taxpayer dollars to build a private [phone booth](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/09/26/epa-spending-almost-25000-to-install-a-secure-phone-booth-for-scott-pruitt/) in the EPA at the cost of nearly $25,000. Trump has stood by Pruitt despite the often negative publicity. And Pruitt has succeeded — along with allies — in pushing the president to take his position on a number of key policy issues, including withdraw from the [Paris Agreement](http://time.com/4801134/paris-agreement-withdrawal-donald-trump-rose-garden/) on climate change. In turn, Pruitt has [sought to advance](https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/05/scott-pruitt-us-attorney-general-position-326373) within the administration with his sights set on attorney general. ## Transcript Donald Trump's first year in the Oval Office was a whirlwind. But now that the dust has settled, it's becoming more clear what mattered. As a political novice with a hot Twitter finger, Trump created a steady stream of controversies Occasionally derailing his political agenda. But he also had some wins. The achievement that will likely last the longest is the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, who filled a seat held open by Senate Republicans throughout 2016. On the legislative front, his biggest achievement was the passage of a $ 1. 5 trillion tax cut that reduced corporate rates, Lowered tax rates for the wealthy and doubled the standard deduction used by many taxpayers. When you think you haven't heard this expression, but we are making America great again. You haven't heard that, have you? But Republicans in Congress failed repeatedly in their long- held goal of repealing the Affordable Care Act. On this vote, the yeas are 45, the nays are 55. The amendment is not agreed to. Agreed to. Settling at the end of the year for repealing the individual insurance mandate as part of the tax bill. When the individual mandate is being repealed, that means Obamacare is being repealed. On foregin policy, Trump's major achievements involved undoing the work of his predecessor President Obama. He withdrew from negotiations over the Trans- Pacific Partnership, a trade pact with Asia. Great thing for the American worker, what we just did. Just did. And left the Paris Climate Agreement, making the US the only country not to sign. So we're getting out, but we will start to negotiate and we will see if we can make a deal that's fair. And if we can, that's great. And if we can't, that's fine. He also recognized Jerusalm as the capitol of Israel. Real. A controversial move that could make it harder for the US to act as a broker in peace negotiations. This is nothing, more or less, than a recognition of reality. The Trump administration also made strides at undoing rules and regulations on everyithing from drilling in the Arctic to protecting transgender students to guaranteeing net neutrality. But Trump's reliance on executive orders and internal rule- making Making also leaves that part of his legacy vulnerable to reversal by the next Democratic president. 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