{"id":478947,"date":"2026-02-20T01:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T01:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/478947\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T01:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T01:30:09","slug":"trump-banner-displayed-on-justice-department-headquarters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/478947\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump banner displayed on Justice Department headquarters"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 A large banner featuring Donald Trump\u2019s face was hung on the exterior of Justice Department headquarters on Thursday in a physical display of the Republican president\u2019s efforts to exert power over the law enforcement agency<\/a> that once investigated him. <\/p>\n

While Trump banners have been hung outside other agencies across Washington, the decision to place one on the storied Justice Department building amounted to a striking symbol of the erosion of the department\u2019s tradition of independence from White House control. <\/p>\n

The banner, hung between two columns on one corner of the building, says, \u201cMake America Safe Again,\u201d a slogan used by the administration to tout its efforts to clamp down on illegal immigration and violent crime. <\/p>\n

Attorney General Pam Bondi<\/a> has postured herself as the president\u2019s chief supporter and protector<\/a>, eschewing the approach of predecessors who sought to maintain an arms-length distance from the White House to protect the impartiality of investigations and prosecutions. <\/p>\n

Trump officials have rejected accusations that they have weaponized the Justice Department for political purposes, saying the Biden administration was the one that politicized law enforcement with two federal criminal cases against Trump that were abandoned after he won the 2024 election. <\/p>\n

The Justice Department in a statement Thursday said it is proud to \u201ccelebrate 250 years of our great country and our historic work to make America safe again at President Trump\u2019s direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has opened investigations into a number of the president\u2019s perceived enemies, amplifying concerns that the agency is being used to exact revenge on his political foes. <\/p>\n

Federal prosecutors brought charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey that were later dismissed<\/a>, and separately sought to indict several Democratic lawmakers<\/a> in connection with a video in which they urged U.S. military members to resist \u201cillegal orders<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n

In a social media post, Comey said the banner was \u201csickening to see,\u201d adding that the administration \u201cforgot to cover the inscription\u201d on one side of the building that says, \u201cWhere law ends tyranny begins.\u201d <\/p>\n

The department is also investigating Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell<\/a> over congressional testimony and Democratic Minnesota officials<\/a> over whether they obstructed federal immigration enforcement through public statements. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 A large banner featuring Donald Trump\u2019s face was hung on the exterior of Justice Department…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":478948,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3506,3505,12,793,790,94487,2938,4381,49710,3,3131,111,10585,21,19,22,20,25,24,16757,800],"class_list":{"0":"post-478947","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-dc-wire","10":"tag-district-of-columbia","11":"tag-donald-trump","12":"tag-general-news","13":"tag-immigration","14":"tag-james-comey","15":"tag-jerome-powell","16":"tag-law-enforcement","17":"tag-letitia-james","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-pam-bondi","20":"tag-politics","21":"tag-u-s-department-of-justice","22":"tag-united-states","23":"tag-united-states-of-america","24":"tag-unitedstates","25":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","26":"tag-us","27":"tag-usa","28":"tag-violence","29":"tag-washington-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=478947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/478948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}