Christopher Wray's days as FBI chief numbered: Trump allies already looking for his replacement

The president-elect Donald Trump and his transition team are looking to quickly replace the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Christopher Wray, before the end of his 10-year term.

In recent days, suggestions have emerged from Trump’s team indicating that the FBI director could soon be replaced.

In a controversial post on 'X,' Vice President-elect JD Vance stated that he had recently met with Trump to interview candidates to lead the FBI, aiming to find the right person to "dismantle the deep state." However, the post was later deleted.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the signals coming from Trump's team are clear: Wray's days as FBI director are numbered, especially since the president-elect sees the appointment of a new director as the start of a major restructuring of the agency.

The WSJ indicated that Trump's advisers have already discussed several names for the post and there are two people itching to get the prestigious position: one is former Rep. Mike Rogers, who lost a Senate race in Michigan this month; and the second is Kash Patel, one of Trump's closest advisers who has already been tossed around as an option to head other Intelligence agencies.

This immediate search for a replacement appears to mark the end of Wray at the helm of the FBI, whom Trump appointed during his first term in 2017 after firing his predecessor, James Comey.

However, Trump and Republicans have strongly questioned the FBI under Wray's watch, accusing the agency of actively and harshly pursuing conservative politicians and citizens more than others.

Wray, a Republican and former top Justice Department official in the George W. Bush administration, has consistently defended himself against the accusations, asserting that criticism of the agency by Republicans generated senseless and dangerous rhetoric.

The relationship between Trump and Wray broke down for good in August 2022 when the FBI conducted an unprecedented raid on the president's residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, in search of classified documents.

Trump especially questioned the FBI and the Justice Department after, in his words, the authorities did not deal equally harshly with Joe Biden, who was also in possession of classified documents.