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President Donald Trump on Friday delivered a defiant speech at the Department of Justice (DOJ), defending his allies, condemning political opponents, and reinforcing his calls for accountability and retribution against those he believes have wronged him.
Speaking from the DOJ’s Great Hall—the very agency that prosecuted him in two separate federal cases—Trump praised U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who dismissed his classified documents case, while calling her critics “horrible human beings.”
“It’s totally illegal what they do. I just hope you can all watch for it, but it’s totally illegal, and it was so unfair what they were doing to her,” Trump said, defending Cannon, whose rulings were crucial in ending the case against him.
Calls for Biden Officials to Be Jailed
Trump also denounced the Biden administration’s 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, calling it “the most humiliating time in the history of our country.” He demanded that officials behind the decision be imprisoned.
“The people who did this to us should go to jail. They should go to jail,” Trump declared.
His remarks reinforced a campaign promise of retribution, stating that his administration would “insist upon and demand full and complete accountability for the wrongs and abuses that have occurred.”
Justice Department Shakeup Under Trump
Trump’s speech came after he purged federal prosecutors involved in cases against him, including career officials who had worked under former special counsel Jack Smith and those who handled January 6 cases.
Trump once again called Smith “deranged” and referred to the hundreds of January 6 defendants he pardoned on his first day in office as “hostages.” He assured his supporters that “the weaponization of the Justice Department” under previous administrations was over.
“Those days are over, and they are never going to come back,” he declared.
A Rare Presidential Speech at the DOJ
Trump’s decision to deliver remarks at the DOJ headquarters underscored the extraordinary nature of his relationship with the agency. He becomes just the third president this century to speak at the DOJ’s headquarters.
“I was asked to do it, and I said, ‘Is it appropriate that I do it?’ And then I realized it’s not only appropriate, I think it’s really important,” Trump said.
As Trump concluded his speech—one reminiscent of his campaign rallies—the song “Y.M.C.A.” played over the speakers inside the Justice Department’s Great Hall.
The moment symbolized Trump’s transformation of the Justice Department, from an institution that once prosecuted him to one now firmly under his control.
