Donald Trump reportedly selected Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general because the former Florida congressman most aligned with the president-elect's plan to clean house at the Department of Justice.
Trump on Wednesday said he will nominate Gaetz for the role of the nation's top prosecutor.
The former and future president had struggled to find an AG candidate who checked all his boxes, even after listening to the opinions of his closest advisers and aides, the Independent reported.
"None of the attorneys had what Trump wants, and they didn't talk like Gaetz," a source told Marc Caputo at The Bulwark.
"Everyone else looked at AG as if they were applying for a judicial appointment. They talked about their vaunted legal theories and constitutional bull****. Gaetz was the only one who said, 'Yeah, I'll go over there and start cuttin' f***** heads.'"
Trump also was attracted to Gaetz's loyalty and the fact that both men have been the subjects of federal probes.
"The hunters have become the hunted," a Gaetz ally told The Bulwark. "This is not your grandfather's party. This is MAGA."
Gaetz, 42, had not been on Trump's short list and only emerged as a possibility for AG on Wednesday, when Trump was flying to Washington, where he spoke to House Republicans and visited President Joe Biden at the White House, Politico reported.
According to the outlet, Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn lobbied the president-elect to choose Gaetz. Epshteyn did so while incoming White House chief of staff Susie Wiles was in an adjacent room on the plane and apparently unaware of their conversation.
In announcing plans to nominate Gaetz, Trump said, "Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans' badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department."
The news certainly shook Washington, where nearly every politician seemed to have a strong opinion on Gaetz at the DOJ.
While some politicians suggested there's no way Gaetz will be approved by the Senate, people familiar with Trump's thinking told The Bulwark the president-elect is deadly serious about getting the attorney in at the DOJ.
Although he wasn't a fan of Gaetz's decision to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Trump stayed out of the lawmakers' battle, partly out of respect for Gaetz.
"Gaetz is a tough son of a bitch. He's my son of a b***h," Trump recently told someone, The Bulwark reported.