“Is it appropriate that I do it?” Mr. Trump mused, as he recounted his decision to deliver a speech inside the Justice Department.
“And then I realized, it’s not only appropriate, I think it’s really important,” he added.
The event had many trappings of a Trump campaign rally, including the music, even if set against the backdrop of the department’s marble-clad inner sanctum. The setting was part of an effort to emphasize the power of the institution Mr. Trump controls through loyal appointees.
Mr. Trump’s first two warm-up speakers, Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, and Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, offered a cheerful and cherry-picked recitation of the department’s accomplishments under Mr. Trump thus far — the acceleration of immigration enforcement, efforts to punish academic institutions that do not bow to the administration’s demand to purge diversity and inclusion programs, and intensifying efforts to fight fentanyl trafficking.
Mr. Blanche, a former federal prosecutor who served as the lead attorney in Mr. Trump’s two federal criminal cases, began by expressing his commitment to upholding the best traditions of the department. But he quickly shifted gears to profess personal loyalty to the president — something that none of his predecessors in the Biden administration ever did.
Mr. Trump, he said, “is a complete inspiration to me.”
Pam Bondi, the attorney general, echoed Mr. Blanche, calling Mr. Trump “the greatest president in the history of our country” and saying she works “at the directive of Donald Trump.”
Her words were another nod to the Trump administration’s aggressive effort to have a Justice Department that does not operate at arm’s length from the White House, but under its direct command.
Kitty Bennett contributed research.
