WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday condemned the weaponization of justice that took place during his predecessor’s administration, promising transparency about the “lies and abuses” that have taken place at the Justice Department, and vowing to protect the American people from these abuses ever happening again.
The president spoke on Friday afternoon at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., where he promised that the DOJ and the FBI will become the premier agencies fighting crime on “the face of the earth.”
“But first, we must be honest about the lies and abuses that have occurred within these walls,” the president said. “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.”
“You remember the 51 intelligence agents that said, as an example, that Hunter Biden’s laptop from hell came from Russia, when they knew that it came right from his bedroom,” Trump continued. “They knew that.”
It was a “big lie,” Trump argued — and “they knew it so well.”
US President Donald Trump and US Attorney General Pam Bondi (L) arrive to speak at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC, on March 14, 2025. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP) (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
“They spied on my campaign, launched one hoax and disinformation after another, broke the law on a colossal scale, persecuted my family, staff, and supporters, raided my home in Mar-a-Lago, and did everything in their power to prevent me from becoming President of the United States,” he told the assembled DOJ guests.
Trump vowed to restore the scales of justice within the United States and to ensure that such abuses never occur again. He said that the American people want a proper investigation into what went on throughout the Biden administration, “the corruption of our system,” and he assured the public that this is exactly what his newly appointed leaders of the FBI and DOJ will do.
“We will expel the rogue actors and corrupt forces from our government,” he said. “We will expose and very much expose their egregious crimes in severe misconduct. … It’s gonna be legendary.”
“For generations,” the president said, “the federal Department of Justice was one of America’s most revered institutions. … This department commanded the respect and admiration of the entire world. With Pam [Bondi] and Kash [Patel] leading the way, it will soon be the most admired and most respected of all.”
The president specifically mentioned the parents at school board meetings, pro-life activists, and traditional Catholics targeted by the DOJ. He slammed the lawyers and activists who attempt to intimidate Supreme Court justices or judges into ruling the way they wish, and the media outlets who echo the claims of these smear campaigns. He introduced an “angel mom,” a mother whose son lost his life as a 15-year-old high school freshman when he took a pill laced with fentanyl.
He criticized former President Joe Biden for getting the United States into “a mess” with Russia and Ukraine, teasing that he got some “really good news” right before he came to the DOJ related to that conflict. He pointed to the botched Afghanistan withdrawal under Biden, arguing that the Biden administration was too focused on targeting Republicans to tend to the weighty global issues at hand.
“I have no higher mission as president of the United States,” he said, than to make “America safe again.”
