How the Trump Justice Department is targeting his perceived opponents

Summary

---

Podcast Summary: Consider This from NPR

Episode Title: How the Trump Justice Department is targeting his perceived opponents
Date: January 16, 2026
Host: Elsa Chang
Guests/Contributors: Domenico Montanaro (NPR Senior Political Editor), Juana Summers (NPR Correspondent), Kerry Johnson (NPR Justice Correspondent)

---

Overview

This episode explores the increasingly aggressive and retributive tactics of the Trump Justice Department in his second term, particularly against individuals and groups President Trump perceives as enemies. The hosts examine recent investigations, high-profile resignations, and the broader political and legal implications of the administration’s actions, with particular attention to the Justice Department's expanded role in targeting politicians, civil servants, and journalists.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Trump’s “Retribution” Promises in Action

• Opening Theme: The episode opens with a clip of President Trump’s campaign promise to serve as “your retribution” for those he believes have been wronged (00:04).
• Aggressive Actions: Since returning to office, Trump has used the powers of the federal government—especially the DOJ—to pursue revenge on perceived adversaries (00:11, 03:03).

2. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell Investigation

• Trump labeled Powell a “stupid person” after tensions over interest rate decisions (00:21).
• DOJ is investigating Powell over building renovations, although Powell states this is “a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment...rather than following the preferences of the president.” (00:36)
  • Quote: Jerome Powell: “The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public rather than following the preferences of the president.” (00:36)
• Powell suggests this is a punitive, politically motivated move.

3. Minnesota DOJ Tactics and Resignations

• A controversy in Minneapolis led to multiple resignations among federal prosecutors, who were pressured to investigate not a police shooting, but the victim’s widow for activist ties (00:48–01:03).
• Kerry Johnson describes “major unrest” and a pattern of ethical conflict across DOJ offices nationally, with career prosecutors resigning rather than carrying out political targeting (08:18).

4. Targeting Democratic Lawmakers Over Military Statement

• DOJ reached out to five Democratic lawmakers who, in a video, encouraged the military to refuse illegal orders (01:15–01:20).
• Senator Alyssa Slotkin argues the investigation is primarily an act of intimidation:
  • Quote: Alyssa Slotkin: “Just the mere fact that they've initiated this, that you have to get a lawyer, you have to come up with a strategy, you have to have these conversations is the point. Right. The intimidation is the point.” (01:33)

5. Expanding DOJ Investigations—Journalists and Political Opponents

• The FBI searched the home of a Washington Post journalist, confiscating electronics. DOJ claims it relates to a federal contractor accused of mishandling secrets—but Kerry Johnson stresses this is an unprecedented and controversial step (06:01–06:59).

6. The Broader Pattern: Retribution and Party Politics

• Juana Summers and Domenico Montanaro note that these actions elevate the profiles of moderate Democrats like Mark Kelly and Alyssa Slotkin, potentially creating unintended political consequences for the GOP (05:15–05:52).
• The Justice Department and Trump’s team frame their approach as necessary law enforcement, despite ongoing criticism and protests from within the DOJ and in public opinion polls (03:39–03:47, 04:35).

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Intimidation as the Point:
  Alyssa Slotkin (01:33): “Just the mere fact that they've initiated this...is the point. Right. The intimidation is the point.”

• On Trump’s Promise of Retaliation:
  Trump (00:04): “I am your retribution. I am your retribution.”

• On the Justice Department’s Transformation:
  Kerry Johnson (03:03): “Virtually everything that's happened over the past week could have been predicted. On Inauguration Day, President Trump returned to the White House, promising to investigate his perceived political enemies... This is an aggressive Justice Department under Trump's full command.”

• On the Precedent of Raiding a Journalist’s Home:
  Kerry Johnson (06:08): “To search a reporter's home is a stunning step, one that past administrations had avoided and one that may also run afoul of a federal privacy law.”

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:04 – Trump’s “I am your retribution” campaign promise
• 00:36 – Jerome Powell defends the Federal Reserve
• 01:23 – Senator Slotkin on intimidation tactics
• 03:03 – Kerry Johnson on predicted DOJ shifts
• 04:35 – Public opinion and polling on Minnesota immigration enforcement
• 05:15 – Juana Summers on unintended political elevation of targeted Democrats
• 06:01 – DOJ investigations of Jerome Powell and a Washington Post reporter
• 06:59 – Retaliation as the dominant theme of Trump’s second term
• 07:37 – Response from DOJ and ongoing internal strife
• 08:18 – Kerry Johnson on nationwide pattern of prosecutor resignations
• 09:00 – Domenico Montanaro and Juana Summers debate political and legal guardrails on Trump

---

Tone and Closing Reflections

The episode’s tone is serious, urgent, and at times wary, with repeated emphasis on how “retribution” has become central to the federal government’s law enforcement priorities in Trump’s second term. The hosts express concern about the erosion of both legal norms and internal resistance, and highlight the broader consequences for American politics and democracy.

Final Thoughts:
The episode concludes by highlighting the consequences of politicized justice: ongoing unrest within DOJ, fear among public figures, and the specter of unchecked executive power, with the courts and public opinion as the remaining possible guardrails.

---

This summary presents the key themes and discussions of NPR’s Consider This episode, preserving the voices and context of the original reporting.

Transcript

[Elsa Chang]

On the campaign trail, here is what President Trump promised.

[Donald Trump]

And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution. I am your retribution.

[Elsa Chang]

In his first year back in office, President Trump has pulled many different levers of government to pursue revenge against those he sees as having wronged or betrayed him.

[Donald Trump]

We have a stupid person, frankly, at the Fed there.

[Elsa Chang]

He is referring to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. The U.S. attorney in Washington is investigating Powell over building renovations that are running over budget. Well, here's how Powell responded on Sunday.

[Jerome Powell]

The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public rather than following the preferences of the president.

[Elsa Chang]

This was also the week where several Minnesota federal prosecutors resigned. The DOJ had pushed them to investigate not the killing of Renee Macklin Good. But instead the woman who is now.

[Domenico Montanaro]

Her widow for her ties to activist groups.

[Elsa Chang]

And then another headline tied to the Justice Department. This week, five sitting Democratic lawmakers said that federal prosecutors recently contacted them for questioning. Last year, they had all made a.

[Domenico Montanaro]

Statement on video urging members of the military to refuse illegal orders.

[Elsa Chang]

One of those lawmakers was Michigan Senator Alyssa Slotkin.

[Alyssa Slotkin]

I think it's meant to get you to shut up.

[Elsa Chang]

Senator Slotkin spoke to my colleague Juana Summers on Thursday. She said the US Attorneys did not send if they were investigating a crime.

[Alyssa Slotkin]

Just the mere fact that they've initiated this, that you have to get a lawyer, you have to come up with a strategy, you have to have these conversations is the point. Right. The intimidation is the point.

[Elsa Chang]

Consider this. This week, the Justice Department made it.

[Domenico Montanaro]

Clear that it is targeting Trump's perceived.

[Elsa Chang]

Enemies with threats of federal prosecution. After the break, a closer look at.

[Domenico Montanaro]

The most recent escal.

[Kerry Johnson]

Foreign.

[Elsa Chang]

From npr, I'm ilsa chang. It's consider this from npr. The Department of Justice is once again at the center of the news with investigations of federal lawmakers and the chairman of the Federal Reserve and resignations by career prosecutors in Minnesota. So we have asked NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro and NPR justice correspondent Kerry Johnson to talk about what's been happening over the last week. Hello to both of you.

[Juana Summers]

Hey there.

[Kerry Johnson]

Hi there.

[Elsa Chang]

Kerry, let's start with you.

[Domenico Montanaro]

It feels like we have been seeing like an escalation for the Justice Department and the Trump administration this week, like both when it comes to the tactics that this administration uses and their willingness.

[Elsa Chang]

To push the boundaries of the law. Right. Is this all part of some bigger goal, you think?

[Kerry Johnson]

Definitely. Virtually everything that's happened over the past Week could have been predicted. On Inauguration Day, President Trump returned to the White House, promising to investigate his perceived political enemies. And after the election, people were worried about doj. But changes there have been more sweeping and more quick than many of them feared. The Supreme Court in the immunity case made clear President Trump and future presidents are largely immune from prosecution for their official actions in office. And so this is an aggressive Justice Department under Trump's full command. Really the culmination of statements he made on the campaign trail.

[Elsa Chang]

That's right, on the campaign trail.

[Domenico Montanaro]

Because as a candidate, he promised, right, to go after his enemies. He also promised to be tough on immigration.

[Elsa Chang]

Domenico, how are people responding to what's.

[Domenico Montanaro]

Been happening in Minnesota, specifically?

[Juana Summers]

Well, the situation in Minneapolis is really highlighting some of these aggressive tactics of the Trump administration. There's new polling this week out from a couple of outfits. Quinnipiac poll found that 57% disapprove of the way that ICE is enforced, enforcing immigration laws. 53% said that they don't think that the shooting was justified, while only 35% say that it was. And this has become the real problem for Trump on something that had been an advantage with immigration. You know, people may be in favor of deporting criminals who are in the country illegally, but they've also been saying for months that they see this administration's approach as going too far or acting too harshly when it comes to deportations, and that's been dragging down Trump's numbers overall on immigration.

[Elsa Chang]

Well, Minnesota, I mean, it's just one.

[Domenico Montanaro]

One part of the story this week. Right. Like Democrats in Congress say that they are being investigated over a video urging military members to disregard illegal orders.

[Elsa Chang]

How do those investigations fit into what.

[Domenico Montanaro]

We'Ve been talking about?

[Kerry Johnson]

Yeah, several Democrats this week told us they've heard from the FBI and agents who want to interview them. They say this is an infringement on their First Amendment rights and potentially their rights as lawmakers as they try to do their jobs. One of them, Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, has gone so far as to sue the Pentagon, which has been threatening to reduce his rank and benefits over what he said in that video.

[Juana Summers]

Yeah, and I have to say, from a raw politics perspective, I mean, do Republicans really want to elevate the profiles of people like Mark Kelly, the senator from Arizona, or Alyssa Slotkin, the senator from Michigan? They're two of the more moderate members of the Democratic Caucus talking about an astronaut, a former CIA analyst. I mean, they'd cut pretty good profiles for 20, 28 candidates. And I'd venture to say that if not for how the Trump administration has gone after them, Kelly in particular would likely be somebody who's as much part of the 2028 conversation as he is now. And it's also just not the wing of the Democratic Party that politically you would think the Republicans would want to highlight.

[Elsa Chang]

So maybe they're shooting themselves in the foot. Well, there was more this week.

[Domenico Montanaro]

The Department of Justice is investigating Jerome Powell, as we said, the chairman of the Federal Reserve.

[Elsa Chang]

And then we saw that the FBI searched the home of a Washington Post journalist. Kerry, can you just explain what's been happening on those fronts?

[Kerry Johnson]

Yeah, a real whirlwind. On Sunday night, Jerome Powell, the Fed chairman, made a explaining that he seemed to be under criminal investigation for testimony he gave on Capitol Hill about renovations to the Fed's buildings. Powell basically said this was a smokescreen, that President Trump wants to get rid of him because the Fed wasn't moving as quickly as Trump wanted on interest rates. And then a few days later, FBI agents showed up in the morning at the home of a Washington Post reporter. They took two laptops, a phone and a smartwatch. The Justice Department says this is tied to an investigation of a federal contract who's been accused of retaining government secrets. But to search a reporter's home is a stunning step, one that past administrations had avoided and one that also may run afoul of a federal privacy law.

[Elsa Chang]

I mean, it seems like retribution is a major theme now in Trump's second term.

[Juana Summers]

Yeah, for sure. It's a huge motivating factor. I mean, remember, he's been smarting from investigations that were going into him for years, and he's been promising, quote, unquote, retribution. And that's coming to fruition now. You know, it's really become a sort of political platform in this second term. Fuel for a conservative grievance. He's gone after any number of perceived political enemies, whether it's former officials who've spoken out against him, journalists, universities, law firms, you name it.

[Elsa Chang]

Yeah. Well, Kerry, how are people inside the.

[Domenico Montanaro]

Justice Department responding to some of this backlash?

[Kerry Johnson]

They're not saying much about the investigation of Jerome Powell or the one of Democratic lawmakers on the video, but they are defending the immigration efforts in Minnesota. The deputy attorney General, Todd Blanch, says federal immigration officers are risking their lives in Minneapolis under chaotic conditions and they have to make split second decisions. He says he sees no reason to open a civil rights investigation into Renee Macklin Goode's death. Instead, DOJ seems to want to investigate Good's widow and any ties she has to activist groups.

[Domenico Montanaro]

And that suggested direction of the investigation does not seem to have gone over well with some of the career prosecutors in the doj. Right. Like what's the latest there?

[Kerry Johnson]

Major unrest in the U.S. attorney's office in Minnesota. Several prosecutors quit. These resignations are part of a broader pattern that's been happening across the country since Trump took office in Tennessee, D.C. virginia, and, of course, what happened in last year, New York, with the dropping of the case against former New York City Mayor Eric Adams. In all of these instances, the ethics of career prosecutors are being put to the test. And so long as the president commands the Justice Department to target his critics, it's likely to keep happening.

[Domenico Montanaro]

Well, what I want to know, Domenico.

[Elsa Chang]

Is I mean, we've seen Trump take.

[Domenico Montanaro]

An aggressive approach before and courts have.

[Elsa Chang]

Stepped in or public sentiment has turned against him. So I'm wondering, what are you noticing.

[Domenico Montanaro]

About how Trump is responding in this moment?

[Juana Summers]

Well, I mean, Trump trying to centralize power and finding out what the guardrails are is something that I always thought might define the second term. And those are really being determined now mostly by the courts. You know, politics can also provide some guardrails. You know, if something's unpopular, politicians usually try and dial it back. We saw that in Trump's first term with child separation policies. But it's not really Trump's style. And obviously here in this second term with him, term limited, it wouldn't be surprising to see him be even more unrestrained, especially if he thinks that Republicans are gonna lose the House this year anyway.

[Domenico Montanaro]

That is NPR's Domenico Montanaro and Carrie Johnson.

[Elsa Chang]

Thank you to both of you.

[Juana Summers]

You're welcome.

[Kerry Johnson]

My pleasure.

[Elsa Chang]

This episode was produced by Megan Lim and Karen Zamora. It was edited by Kelsey Snell, John Ketchum and Patrick Jaron Watanan. Our executive producer is Sammy Y. And thank you to our CONSIDER THIS plus listeners who support the work of NPR journalists and help keep public radio strong. Supporters also hear every episode without messages from sponsors and unlock bonus episodes of Consider this. Learn more at plus.NPR.org. It's CONSIDER this from npr.

[Domenico Montanaro]

I'm Elsa Chang.

[Amazon Prime Announcer]

Want to hear this podcast without sponsor breaks? Amazon prime members can listen to Consider this sponsor free through Amazon Music. Or you can also support NPR's vital journalism and get Consider this +@ +npr.org. that's +npr.org.