Trump’s announcement of Barr’s exit on Twitter comes after the Electoral College vote put President-elect Joe Biden over the 270 votes needed to formally secure the presidency.

Despite escalating tensions between Trump and Barr ever since Barr’s admission that there was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election, Trump claimed they had an amicable relationship.

Trump tweeted, announcing the news “Just had a very nice meeting with Attorney General Bill Barr at the White House. Our relationship has been a very good one, he has done an outstanding job! As per the letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family. Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen, an outstanding person, will become Acting Attorney General. Highly respected Richard Donoghue will be taking over the duties of Deputy Attorney General. Thank you to all!”

On Friday, AG William Barr declared a public-safety emergency in Alaska so the Justice Department could allocate more than $10 million toward fighting violent crime in some of the state’s rural communities.

In a whole lot of areas, getting timely law enforcement replies to sexual assaults, child abuse and other violent crimes can be difficult.

A 2013 federal report said that more than 75 Alaska Native communities had no law enforcement officers. Tribes have been wanting authority to establish police forces since the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act took effect, Reuters reported.

Because of Alaska’s immense size (663,268 square miles) it can sometimes take hours for state troopers to reach a village from which a crime is reported.

Tribal leaders have alerted authorities to the fact that victims of sexual assault sometimes need to take boats or planes to reach medical facilities in more populated areas, the Associated Press reported.

Barr visited Alaska in late May to get a sense of the problems Alaskans have been dealing with.

“In May, when I visited Alaska, I witnessed firsthand the complex, unique, and dire law enforcement challenges the state of Alaska and its remote Alaska Native communities are facing,” Barr said in a Justice Department statement.

“With this emergency declaration, I am directing resources where they are needed most and needed immediately, to support the local law enforcement response in Alaska Native communities, whose people are dealing with extremely high rates of violence.”

Barr and some other officials have visited the communities of Galena, Bethel and Napaskiak on May 31, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

Alaskan members of Congress said they were pleased by the attention Barr was directing toward their state.

United States Rep. Don Young, an Alaska Republican who lives in Fort Yukon, a small community above the Arctic Circle, said he was glad Barr released the money.

“I’m cautioning people, though, because money just doesn’t solve the problem,” the 86-year-old Young said Friday. “There should be recognition that this problem can only be solved by support by the communities themselves.”