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President Donald Trump rehashed a litany of long-held grievances before an unusual crowd on Friday, telling officials at the Department of Justice that he had been persecuted, abused and attacked by his perceived political opponents in a meandering speech that went on for more than an hour.
Speaking to an audience that included FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump painted himself as a victim, as he called prosecutors who worked on his criminal cases “scum,” “evil” and “corrupt,” and railed against negative media coverage of him as “illegal.”
“They spied on my campaign, launched one hoax and disinformation operation after another, broke the law on a colossal scale, persecuted my family, staff and supporters, raided my home Mar-a-Lago, and did everything within their power to prevent me from becoming the president of the United States,” he said.
Although billed as an address on law and order, Trump’s remarks to the Justice Department more resembled one of his rambling campaign speeches. Calling himself the “chief law enforcement officer” (a title usually reserved for the U.S. attorney general), Trump careened across a range of topics, from Ukraine to the price of eggs, crowed about his “mandate” in the 2024 election and vowed to “bring back faith” in a justice system that he has dramatically politicized since returning to office.
“First, we must be honest about the lies and the abuses that have occurred within these walls,” Trump told the crowd. “Unfortunately in recent years, a corrupt group of hacks and radicals within the ranks of the American government obliterated the trust and goodwill built up over generations. They weaponized the vast powers of our intelligence and law enforcement agencies to try and thwart the will of the American people.”
Trump also mentioned by name attorneys who he claimed “did everything within their power to prevent me from becoming the president of the United States” and repeated his baseless claim that his political foes had weaponized federal law enforcement against him — even as he delivered a highly politicized speech to a department that has traditionally strived to preserve its independence from the executive branch.