During yesterday's call, Bharara asked for clarity about whether the requests for resignations applied to him, given his previous conversation with Trump, and did not immediately get a definitive answer, according to a person familiar with the exchange.
Justice officials were not able to clear up the confusion. A spokesman would only say that all 46 US Attorneys had been asked "to tender their resignations" and some might be kept on.
When asked whether Bharara was also being asked for a resignation letter, one White House official not authorised to speak publicly said, "Everybody's gone," and would not engage further on the issue.
Two people close to Trump said the President's chief strategist Stephen Bannon and Attorney General Jeff Sessions want a clean slate of federal prosecutors and were unconcerned about any perception that the White House changed its mind about Bharara. The ouster of former President Barack Obama's federal prosecutors is about asserting who's in power, these people said.
The Justice Department declined to comment.
Bharara, based in Manhattan, had a particularly powerful perch in the criminal justice system. He had pursued corrupt politicians, global terrorism suspects and corporate wrongdoing.
There is no indication that the ousting of Bharara stems from a disagreement about a particular case or investigation.
The President complained on Twitter this month that Obama had ordered wiretapping of Trump Tower during the election season - an accusation that multiple federal law enforcement officials have said is untrue - partly because presidents cannot order the FBI to wiretap Americans, and also because no such surveillance was undertaken.
But Bharara was not drawn into that debate, which principally revolved around Justice Department headquarters and FBI headquarters.
After Trump won the presidency, he met in late November with Bharara. The meeting came about, according to people familiar with the matter, after Trump called Senator Charles Schumer and congratulated him on becoming the leader of the Senate Democrats.
In that conversation, Trump brought up Bharara, and said he was thinking of keeping him in his job, these people said. Schumer praised Bharara and Trump then arranged a meeting with Bharara at Trump Tower.
During the conversation, Trump told Bharara to call Sessions, his nominee for Attorney General, who also asked Bharara to stay.
When Bharara was leaving, according to one person familiar with the meeting, he asked the president-elect what he should tell the reporters in the lobby. Trump told Bharara to tell them he was staying on, this person said.
