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Giant banner of Donald Trump hung at Justice Department headquarters

Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN
Thu, February 19, 2026 


Members of the National Guard walk past a banner of President Donald Trump, hanging on the Department of Justice building in Washington, DC, on Thursday. - Allison Robbert/AP


A large banner of Donald Trump was hung outside of the Justice Department headquarters in Washington, DC, on Thursday, emphasizing the White House’s control over the nation’s top law enforcement branch that once pursued criminal prosecutions against the president.

The image of Trump in shades of blue is a remarkable addition to the storied Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, which is occupied by a department that traditionally has made painstaking efforts to separate itself from politics.

Since Trump retook office last year, the Justice Department has faced repeated accusations of targeting the president’s perceived enemies on his behalf. Those prosecutions include that of former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General and Letitia James, as well as investigations into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and several Democratic representatives who recorded a video urging service members to disobey any illegal orders.

Similar banners of Trump’s face have been draped across other federal departments including the Department of Labor and the Department of Agriculture, each with their own text: “American workers first” and “growing America,” respectively.

The new sign at the Justice Department reads “make America safe again,” the slogan of the Trump administration’s violent crime crackdown.

The Trump Justice Department has repeatedly stated that its investigations under Trump are not political, and said that the department is course-correcting from alleged “weaponization” under the previous administration.

Chief among their examples are the two federal criminal cases brought against Trump by former special Jack Smith for retaining classified documents in his home at Mar-a-Lago and for his alleged role in instigating the 2021 Capitol riot. The classified documents case was dismissed by a judge, and the election interference case was dropped when he won election in November 2020.

“We are proud at this Department of Justice to celebrate 250 years of our great country and our historic work to make America safe again at President Trump’s direction,” a Justice Department spokesperson said.

Trump’s DOJ Bulldog Scolds Prosecutors for Forgetting the President Is Their ‘Chief Client’

Wiktoria Gucia
Thu, February 19, 2026 
DAILY BEAST


SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images

A top Justice Department aide admitted the agency exists to serve one person: President Donald Trump.

During a January meeting with the leaders of 93 U.S. attorneys’ offices, Associate Deputy Attorney General Aakash Singh called President Trump, 79, the federal prosecutors’ “chief client,” three people briefed on the meeting told Bloomberg Law.

The 33-year-old, whose relatively short legal career has included a charge for driving under the influence (DUI), told participants that anyone unwilling to support the administration’s agenda should step aside, the outlet reported.

Aakash Singh, far right, told U.S. Attorney's offices that the president is their

The remarks reportedly startled meeting participants, as they came on the heels of the resignation of six Minnesota federal prosecutors who quit rather than pursue charges against the widow of Renee Good, 37, who was killed by an ICE agent—a development Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz condemned as “the latest sign that President Trump is pushing nonpartisan career professionals out of the Department of Justice and replacing them with his sycophants.”

U.S. attorneys are charged with ensuring “that the laws be faithfully executed,” according to the department’s website.

Yet Singh—described by a colleague as an octopus with 93 tentacles, one for each office— has pushed prosecutors to align their work with the Trump administration’s priorities.

A banner showing President Donald Trump is hung from the Department of Justice, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, in Washington, D.C. / Allison Robbert/AP

“You cannot micromanage US attorneys’ offices from Washington—not in the long run—and I’ve never found managing by fear to be very effective in the long run either,” Mark Calloway, a former US attorney in Charlotte, told Bloomberg Law.

Since his promotion to Associate Deputy Attorney General after Trump took office, Singh has allegedly exercised tight control over U.S. attorneys’ offices, often demanding emails with case-specific data—a practice some former career officials have described as bullying.

One email obtained by Bloomberg Law was sent just before Thanksgiving and instructed all 93 federal prosecutors to submit data showing their offices’ compliance with fulfilling Trump-directed crackdowns on immigration, political violence, and other policy priorities.

In another virtual meeting, Singh requested that all U.S. attorneys’ offices identify federal judges perceived to engage in judicial activism, so the information could inform potential impeachment referrals to Congress.

A DOJ spokesperson who confirmed Singh’s meeting request told Fox News Digital that the Trump administration is “facing unprecedented judicial activism from rogue judges who care more about making a name for themselves than acting as impartial arbiters of the law.”

In August, Singh met with federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., as the Justice Department sought to bring severe charges against people protesting the military and federal police presence in the capital ordered by the president.


According to the New York Times, he advised prosecutors to impanel new grand juries if a sitting grand jury refused to indict in efforts to pursue more serious charges.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has executed Trump's demands. / Alex Wong / Getty Images

“That’s way out of line and completely unlike anything I ever heard at the DOJ,” Ken White, a former federal prosecutor, told The Guardian.

Bloomberg Law reported that Singh’s influence has raised concern primarily among institutionalists in the department—officials who prioritize protecting the Justice Department’s independence and long-standing rules—because it departs from norms that emphasize prosecutorial independence and impartiality.

Since the start of his second term in office, Trump’s influence over the actions of the DOJ has been apparent, with the 79-year-old president posting on social media a private message to Attorney General Pam Bondi, insisting that she prosecute his enemies—a step she ultimately took.

Donald Trump's private message to Pam Bondi he posted on Truth Social in September. / Truth Social

“Normally these political appointees are chosen not only for political reasons, but because they have credentials that are impeccable, with extensive prosecutorial and managerial experience,” former federal prosecutor Mark Rasch told The Guardian, commenting on the unusualness of Singh’s appointment to such a high position despite a DUI charge and relatively limited experience, which includes five years as an assistant U.S. attorney.


“But political fealty seems to be the single qualification now,” he added, referring to the second Trump administration.