President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Attorney General Pam Bondi is leaving the administration. Her departure ends the contentious tenure of a loyalist who blurred the Justice Department’s independence from the White House, oversaw large-scale firings of career employees and moved aggressively to investigate the Republican president’s perceived enemies. "Pam Bondi is a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my Attorney General over the past year," Trump said on social media. "We love Pam, and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future."Trump added that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche will be the acting attorney general. Bondi released a statement Thursday, reflecting on her time as attorney general and highlighting some notable accomplishments, including securing record-low murder rates, convicting "members of Antifa," and arresting cartel members."Leading President Trump’s historic and highly successful efforts to make America safer and more secure has been the honor of a lifetime, and easily the most consequential first year of the Department of Justice in American history," Bondi said. "I remain eternally grateful for the trust that President Trump placed in me to Make America Safe Again.”She said she will spend the next month transitioning the office to Blanche’s leadership, adding that she is “thrilled” to move to the private sector. Trump had in recent days talked to allies about the possibility of firing Bondi, and he talked with her personally on Wednesday about the possibility it would happen, sources told CNN. In the conversation, which one source described as “tough,” Trump indicated Bondi was not long for her role and he would be replacing her in the near future, sources said.Sources said Bondi was told she would be given a different job later. In their conversation, two sources said, Trump floated the possibility of appointing her as a judge after her departure from the Justice Department.Bondi was in attendance for Trump’s address to the nation Wednesday. CNN has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.Trump has been frustrated with Bondi on multiple fronts, sources said. In particular, he is upset over her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, and he has also fumed that she has not investigated or prosecuted enough of his political opponents.Bondi, a former Florida attorney general, came into office last year pledging that she would not play politics with the Justice Department, but she quickly started investigations of Trump foes, sparking an outcry that the law enforcement agency was being wielded as a tool of revenge to advance the president’s political and personal agenda.She led the department during a period of significant turnover that included the firings of career prosecutors viewed as insufficiently loyal to Trump and the resignations of hundreds of other employees. Her departure adds to a pattern of leadership changes at the Justice Department during Trump’s presidency, as multiple attorneys general across his two terms have either been pushed out or resigned.Bondi rejected accusations that she politicized the Justice Department and said her mission was to restore the institution’s credibility after overreach by President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration with two federal criminal cases against Trump. Bondi’s defenders have said she worked to refocus the department to better tackle illegal immigration and violent crime and brought much-needed change to an agency they believe unfairly targeted conservatives.CNN and AP contributed to this report.