Donald Trump ally Matt Gaetz has withdrawn his name from consideration to be the next US attorney general.

Mr Gaetz, a controversial pick to be the country’s top legal official, said his selection was “unfairly becoming a distraction” to the transition of Mr Trump’s administration into the White House.

The Florida Republican had faced significant scrutiny over a federal investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving a 17-year-old girl.

He said in a post on the X social media platform: “There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as attorney general. Trump’s DOJ (Department of Justice) must be in place and ready on Day 1.

“I remain fully committed to seeing that Donald Trump is the most successful president in history. I will forever be honoured that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I’m certain he will Save America.”

Mr Trump said in a post on his own social media site, Truth Social, that Mr Gaetz had a “wonderful future”.

“I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General,” he wrote.

“He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the administration, for which he has much respect.”

Mr Gaetz previously faced a nearly three-year Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving a 17-year-old girl, which ended in February 2023 without him facing any criminal charges.

He has always denied the allegations.

He has also been under scrutiny by the House Ethics Committee over wider allegations including sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and accepting improper gifts.

The inquiry was dropped on Wednesday 13 November when Mr Gaetz left Congress – the only forum where the committee has jurisdiction.

The Senate ethics committee is deadlocked on whether their report can be released.

Mr Gaetz’s withdrawal is a blow to Mr Trump’s push to install steadfast loyalists in his incoming administration and the first sign that he could face resistance from members of his own party.

A homeless man has been arrested and charged over a plot to bomb the New York Stock Exchange.

The 30-year-old man from Florida, Harun Abdul-Malik Yener, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with attempting to use an explosive device to damage or destroy a building used in interstate commerce, having unveiled some of his plans to undercover agents, according to the FBI.

They began investigating Yener in February based on a tip that he was holding “bomb-making schematics” in a storage unit.

Bomb-making sketches, many watches with timers, electronic circuit boards and other electronics that could be used for building explosive devices were found, the FBI said.

It also said he told undercover FBI agents that he wanted to detonate the bomb the week before Thanksgiving and that the stock exchange in lower Manhattan would be a popular site to target, and that doing so “will wake people up”.

An agent also allegedly recorded him saying: “I feel like Bin Laden.”

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He described how he hoped the bomb would “reboot” the US government, explaining that it would be “like a small nuke went off,” killing everyone inside the building, according to court documents.

The documents also claim he had rewired two-way radios so that they could work as remote triggers for an explosive device and planned to wear a disguise when planting the explosives.

Yener, who had also searched online for things related to bomb-making since 2017, was sacked from his job at a restaurant in Florida last year after his former supervisor said he threatened to “go Parkland shooter in this place”, the FBI added.

He had his first court appearance Wednesday afternoon and will be detained while he awaits a trial.

Google must sell its Chrome browser to restore competition in the online search market, US prosecutors have argued.

The proposed breakup has been floated in a 23-page document filed by the US Justice Department.

It also calls for lawmakers to impose restrictions designed to prevent its Android smartphone software from favouring its own search engine.

If the rules were brought in, it would essentially result in Google being highly regulated for 10 years.

Google controls about 90% of the online search market and 95% on smartphones.

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Court papers filed on Wednesday expand on an earlier outline for what prosecutors argued would dilute that monopoly.

Google called the proposals radical at the time, saying they would harm US consumers and businesses and shake American competitiveness in AI.

The company has said it will appeal.

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) and a coalition of states want US District Judge Amit Mehta to end exclusive agreements in which Google pays billions of dollars annually to Apple and other device vendors to be the default search engine on their tablets and smartphones.

Google will have a chance to present its own proposals in December.

A trial on the proposals has been set for April, however President-elect Donald Trump and the DoJ’s next antitrust head could step in.