The President has no intention of firing Mueller but he has the authority to fire him if he wants.

[kentuck]

That is paraphrasing a comment made by a Trump spokesperson, as reported by cable news.

If that comment is for real, it should be taken as an outright threat to Robert Mueller. It should be interpreted as "obstruction of justice" by the Special Counsel.

He said the same thing to James Comey, as I recall?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

1. He can not directly fire Mueller.

[unblock]

2. Technically, they should say "he has the authority to have him fired"

[Arkansas Granny]

3. Here's what FactCheck says:

Q: Can President Donald Trump fire special counsel Robert Mueller?
A: Not directly. Only the deputy attorney general who appointed Mueller can fire him and only for cause. But Trump could fire the DAG, or order the special-counsel regulations repealed and fire Mueller himself.

http://www.factcheck.org/2017/06/can-trump-fire-mueller/

[vlyons]

4. It doesn't matter what Trump says TODAY

because 1) he's a pathelogical liar, who can't be trusted.
2) he's inconsistent and changes his mind unexplicably
3) he moody and undisciplined and is ruled by his emotions - mostly arrogance, greed, jealousy

So who gives a damn what that fool says? Not me.

[forgotmylogin]

5. When 45 can't do something...

..he's *usually* okay as long as he is assured he has the authority to if the whim struck him.

It's the narcissist control-freak sour-grapes method of settling their inability; allowing an impossible thing to be an option via Schroedinger's Cat: "I could jump over Mt. Everest if I wanted, but I'm not going to, so it's all good. You can't prove that I couldn't do it since I've never tried..."