Trump lashes out as presidency hits six-month mark

Washington : Donald Trump hit the six-month point of his turbulent presidency yesterday in combative style -- lashing out at his own attorney general over the probe into Russia’s alleged election meddling that has dogged him from day one.

Since taking office on January 20, Trump has been on a roller coaster ride, and the gut-wrenching twists and turns looked set to continue after Jeff Sessions vowed to stay on at the Justice Department despite a stinging public rebuke from the commander-in-chief.

Publicly abandoning an influential early supporter, the 71-year-old Trump suggested Sessions had betrayed him in stepping back from investigations into alleged Kremlin-Trump collusion -- and said he wished he had never hired him.

“How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, ‘Thanks, Jeff, but I’m not going to take you,’” Trump said.

“I think is very unfair to the president,” Trump said. “It’s extremely unfair, and that’s a mild word, to the president.” 

Yesterday, Sessions said he had no plans to resign in the wake of the blistering criticism.

“I have the honour of serving as attorney general. It is something that goes beyond any thought I would have ever had for myself,” the Republican former senator said.

“I plan to continue to do so as long as that is appropriate,” he added.

When asked how he could continue to work without the confidence of Trump, Sessions replied: “We are serving right now. The work we are doing today is the kind of work we intend to continue.”