US President Donald Trump launched a bitter attack against the “illegal” media and his political enemies on Friday, as a speech at the Department of Justice turned into a grievance-filled diatribe.
Trump – the first convicted felon to sit in the White House – was meant to be talking about law and order at an organisation supposed to be insulated from political pressure.
But instead the 78-year-old Republican spent much of his time rehearsing complaints that predecessor Joe Biden had “weaponised” the department against him and pledging to “expose” his foes.
“Our predecessors turned the Department of Justice into the Department of Injustice,” Trump said. “I stand before you today to declare that those days are over, and they are never going to come back.”
Since returning to office Trump has taken a sledgehammer to the Justice Department, which previously brought two criminal cases against him including one for allegedly trying to overturn the result of the 2020 election.
But in his speech he vowed to go a step further and investigate his foes, saying: “We must be honest about the lies and abuses that have occurred within these walls.”
He said his administration would “expel the rogue actors and corrupt forces from our government, we will … very much expose their egregious crimes and severe misconduct.”
