It is true that U.S. Attorneys, like any other federal appointee that does not have a lifetime sinecure, serve at the pleasure of the President. So President Trump is fully within his rights to fire U.S. Attorneys or ask for their resignation. In this respect, Trump is behaving no differently than Presidents Obama, Bush or Clinton.
But just because a President can do something doesn't mean he should. If there was one Obama appointed U.S. Attorney that Trump ought to have kept it would be New York's Preet Bharara. Like any good prosecutor he pursued terrorists and white collar criminals. But he also did not play favorites as demonstrated by his bringing down New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver as well as his efforts to root out corruption in New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's office and especially New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.
If there was any prosecutor committed to draining the swamp Bharara was surely it. You would think Trump and his supporters would want to keep Bharara. The fact that Trump has seen fit to dismiss him demonstrates he is not serious about rooting out corruption. Could it be that Trump fears Bharara will come after him next? Whatever the reason, New Yorkers and all Americans will be poorer for Bharara's absence in the U.S. Attorney's office in New York's Southern District at least for now.
If Democrats are smart enough to nominate an honest man to run for the White House in 2020, President Trump may rue the day he dismissed Preet Bharara.
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