Trump pledges to 'expose' his enemies in political speech at Justice Department

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump pledged to “expose” his enemies during a norm-breaking political speech Friday at the Justice Department in which he aired a litany of grievances about the criminal cases he faced and vowed retribution for what he described as the “lies and abuses that have occurred within these walls.”

The speech was meant to rally support for Trump administration policies on violent crime, drugs and illegal immigration. But it also functioned as a triumphant forum for the president to boast about having emerged legally and politically unscathed from two federal prosecutions that one year ago had threatened to torpedo his presidential prospects but were dismissed after his election win last fall.

Though other presidents have spoken from the Justice Department's ceremonial Great Hall, Trump’s address amounted to an extraordinary display of partisan politics and personal grievance inside an institution that is meant to be blind to both. Casting himself as the country's “chief law enforcement officer,” a title ordinarily reserved for the attorney general, he promised to target his perceived enemies even as he claimed to be ending what he called the weaponization of the department.

The speech marked the latest manifestation of Trump’s unparalleled takeover of the department and came amid a brazen campaign of retribution already undertaken under his watch, including the firing of prosecutors who investigated him during the Biden administration and the scrutiny of thousands of FBI agents who investigated the president's supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“Our predecessors turned this Department of Justice into the Department of Injustice. But I stand before you today to declare that those days are over, and they are never going to come back and never coming back," Trump said to cheers from a crowd that included local law enforcement officials, political allies and FBI Director Kash Patel. “So now, as the chief law enforcement officer in our country, I will insist upon and demand full and complete accountability for the wrongs and abuses that have occurred.”

The visit to the Justice Department, the first by Trump and the first by any president in a decade, brought him into the belly of an institution he has disparaged in searing terms for years but one that he has sought to reshape by installing loyalists and members of his personal defense team in top leadership positions.

The event was reminiscent of a campaign rally, with upbeat music blaring from loudspeakers before Trump entered the Great Hall. Justice Department and White House officials mingled while members of the crowd posed for selfies. The podium was flanked by large signs that read “Fighting Fentanyl in America.” Also on the stage was a cardboard box that read “DEA evidence.”

Trump's unique status as a onetime criminal defendant indicted by the department he was now addressing hung over the speech as he vented, in profane and personal terms, about investigations as far back as the Russian election interference investigation to the more recent inquiries into his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and the hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

He mentioned by name prosecutors who investigated him, calling them “scum," and called the classified documents case against him “bulls—-." He claimed that “a corrupt group of hacks and radicals within the ranks of the American government obliterated the trust and goodwill built up over generations," and said that before the department could turn the page, “we must be honest about the lies and abuses that have occurred within these walls,"

“We will expel the rogue actors and corrupt forces from our government. We will expose, very much expose their egregious crimes and severe misconduct," Trump said in a wide-ranging speech that touched on everything from Russia's war against Ukraine, the 2020 election to the price of eggs.

"It’s going to be legendary. And going to also be legendary for the people that are able to seek it out and bring justice. We will restore the scales of justice in America, and we will ensure that such abuses never happen again in our country.”

His claim that the Justice Department had been weaponized during the Biden administration overlooked that there were investigations during that time into Biden’s mishandling of classified information and into the firearms and tax affairs of his son Hunter. And his recounting of the recent investigations into him did not mention that prosecutors had amassed what they said was substantial evidence, including that he had sought to obstruct the classified documents inquiry.

When it comes to setting its agenda, the Justice Department historically takes a cue from the White House but looks to maintain its independence on individual criminal investigations.

Trump has upended such norms.

He encouraged specific investigations during his first term and tried to engineer the firing of Robert Mueller, the special counsel assigned to investigate ties between Russia and Trump's 2016 campaign. He also endured difficult relationships with his first two handpicked attorneys general — Jeff Sessions was fired immediately after the 2018 midterm election, and William Barr resigned weeks after publicly disputing Trump's bogus claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

Arriving for a second term in January fresh off a landmark Supreme Court opinion that reaffirmed a president's unshakable control of the Justice Department, Trump has appeared determined to clear from his path any potential obstacles, including by appointing Pam Bondi — a former Florida attorney general who was part of Trump’s defense team at his first impeachment trial — and Patel, another close ally, to serve as FBI director.

“We all work for the greatest president in the history of our country,” Bondi said Friday in introducing Trump. “We are so proud to work at the directive of Donald Trump. He will never stop fighting for us and we will never stop fighting for him and for our country.”

Even before Bondi had been confirmed, the Justice Department fired department employees who served on special counsel Jack Smith's team, which brought the election interference and classified documents cases against Trump. Both cases were dismissed last November in line with longstanding Justice Department policy against indicting sitting presidents.

Senior Justice Department officials also demanded from the FBI lists of thousands of employees who worked on investigations into the Jan 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, when a mob of Trump's supporters stormed the building in an effort to halt the certification of the electoral vote, and fired prosecutors who had participated in the cases. And they've ordered the dismissal of a criminal case against New York Mayor Eric Adams by saying the charges had handicapped the Democrat’s ability to partner in the Republican administration’s fight against illegal immigration.

Follow the AP's coverage of President Donald Trump at https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump.

President Donald Trump walks with Elon Musk's son X Æ A-Xii on the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Washington before they depart on Marine One. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Protesters listen as Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., speaks after President Donald Trump's speech at the Justice Department, Friday, March 14, 2025, outside the Department of Justice in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Washington Metropolitan Police officers secure the area around the Justice Department before President Donald Trump speaks Friday, March 14, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Pedestrians walk as police secure the area around the Justice Department before President Donald Trump speaks Friday, March 14, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

FILE - The U.S. Department of Justice building is seen in Washington, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

FILE - The Department of Justice headquarters building in Washington is photographed early in the morning, May 14, 2013. (AP Photo/J. David Ake, File)

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has told global leaders to “keep the pressure” on Russian President Vladimir Putin to back a ceasefire in Ukraine.

In his opening remarks Saturday to a virtual gathering of what he has termed the “coalition of the willing,” Starmer said Putin will “sooner or later” have to “come to the table.”

Unlike the first summit on March 2, the meeting of what Starmer has termed the “coalition of the willing” is being conducted virtually. The call is expected to delve into how countries can help Ukraine militarily and financially as well as gauging support for any future possible peacekeeping mission.

“If Russia finally comes to the table, then we must be ready to monitor a ceasefire to ensure it is a serious, and enduring peace," Starmer told leaders, in remarks released by his office ahead of the meeting. “If they don’t, then we need to strain every sinew to ramp up economic pressure on Russia to secure an end to this war.”

Like last time, there will be no representative from the United States, which has shifted its approach on the war since the return of President Donald Trump to the White House. The change of approach relative to that taken by Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, became particularly notable after Trump clashed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Feb. 28 in the Oval Office.

Saturday's meeting takes place in the wake of a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, which Zelenskyy has backed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated that he supported a truce in principle but has set out a host of details that need to be clarified before agreeing to a ceasefire. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has voiced “cautious optimism” about the possibility of Putin, who met with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, on Thursday, backing a ceasefire.

Starmer appears to be less optimistic, and is telling leaders that concrete commitments are required now as Putin plays “pointless games” with Trump’s peace plan.

“Putin is trying to delay, saying there must be a painstaking study before a ceasefire can take place. But the world needs to see action, not a study, or empty words and pointless conditions,” Starmer said. “The Kremlin’s complete disregard for President Trump’s ceasefire proposal only serves to demonstrate that Putin is not serious about peace.”

Starmer has taken the lead, along with French President Emmanuel Macron, in assembling the “coalition of the willing” in part to persuade Trump to maintain support for Kyiv. One outcome has already been a growing acceptance from European countries in particular that they need to do more secure their own security, including by increasing their defense spending.

Macron said he had spoken Friday with both Zelenskyy and Starmer about progress at the U.S.-Ukraine talks earlier this week in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which led to Trump resuming military aid and intelligence sharing with Kyiv.

Saturday's meeting, he said, will "continue to work on reinforcing the support for Ukraine and toward a solid and lasting peace.”

Ukraine, under severe military pressure on parts of the front line three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, has already endorsed the truce proposal. Russia’s army has gained battlefield momentum, and analysts say Putin likely will be reluctant to rush into a ceasefire while he feels he has an advantage.

“My message to the Kremlin could not be clearer: stop the barbaric attacks on Ukraine, once and for all, and agree to a ceasefire now,” Starmer said.

French President Emmanuel Macron, second left, , shakes hands with Colonel-General Ruslan Khomchak, First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, as French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu, right, and Chief of Staff of the French Armed Forces Thierry Burkhard, left, look on during a meeting on the conflict in Ukraine at the Musee de la Marine as part of the Paris Defense and Strategy Forum in Paris, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro during their talks via videoconference at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 14, 2025. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during the briefing in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, March 14, 2025, Russian soldiers ride atop of self-propelled gun at an area in the Kursk region of Russia after it was taken over by Russian troops. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, March 14, 2025, a Russian soldier rises a red flag atop of a house at an area in the Kursk region of Russia after it was taken over by Russian troops. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer gestures during a Q&A session after delivering a speech on plans to reform the civil service, during a visit to Reckitt Benckiser Health Care UK Ltd in Kingston upon Hull, England, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (Oli Scarff/Pool Photo via AP)

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer departs 10 Downing Street to attend Prime Minister's Questions at the Houses of Parliament in London, England, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)