In June 2023, Donald J. Trump’s lawyers arrived at Justice Department headquarters, grimly scooped up visitors badges and were ushered upstairs to ask prosecutors for details about Mr. Trump’s imminent indictment over the hoarding of documents at Mar-a-Lago.
Mr. Trump never faced a trial and is now the president. Two members of his defense team have permanent department badges, because they run the agency’s day-to-day operations.
And Mr. Trump, once a target of prosecution by the Justice Department, is scheduled on Friday to deliver a major law-and-order speech in the agency’s great hall — at least as much an expression of conquest and vindication as it is a friendly first visit to a key cabinet department.
If he no longer owns the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, Mr. Trump is using the speech to show he has taken political possession of more valuable real estate just up the street, in the quavering heart of official Washington.
Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday that the speech would include his ideas for the department, “the complete gamut” of policy proposals, and his aides said it would include proposals on immigration.
The speech comes as officials have made plans to use wartime legal authorities to accelerate the deportation of undocumented immigrants, a step that could be announced as soon as Friday, according people familiar with the process. The president could also unveil new steps to combat “weaponization” of the department, even as his officials use its powers to punish his enemies and reward his allies.
Mr. Trump has sought in recent days to demonstrate that he is making good on his campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration. He is likely to trumpet his efforts ramping up arrests, militarizing the border, turning away migrants and reshaping the system that allows people to seek sanctuary in the United States.
While he has projected confidence, behind the scenes, his advisers have grown increasingly concerned about the pace of deportations and meeting the expectations of voters, and the president, in delivering the most extensive deportation operation in U.S. history.
The president’s aides have already redirected F.B.I., Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and other agencies under the Justice Department’s aegis to immigration enforcement, drawing the ire of many agents who believe they are being diverted from their core law enforcement responsibilities.
Using the obscure Alien Enemies Act of 1798 could give Mr. Trump sweeping new authority to remove undocumented immigrants while providing them little to no due process. The move is likely to be contested in court — presenting a major new challenge for Justice Department appellate lawyers already scrambling to defend other Trump edicts.
To accomplish all this, the White House has moved quickly to assert control over a department that Mr. Trump and his allies have long viewed as the center of “deep state” resistance to him.
Emil Bove, a senior department official who was one of Mr. Trump’s defense lawyers, has emerged as the main enforcer of the president’s will, ordering the transfers of top career prosecutors, dismantling key anti-fraud and corruption units, sacking prosecutors who worked on Capitol riot cases and ramming through the requested dismissal of the corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams of New York.
In justifying nearly all of his actions, Mr. Bove has not introduced evidence of wrongdoing or incompetence, instead citing broad presidential powers to hire and fire under Article II of the Constitution.
Pam Bondi, the attorney general, has been even more direct, frequently referring to the magnitude of Mr. Trump’s election when rebutting criticism of the department’s moves.
Presidential visits to the department’s headquarters are uncommon but not unheard-of.
The first came in early 1933, with President Herbert Hoover presiding over the dedication of the site of the building, which was to stand roughly halfway between the Capitol and White House.
George W. Bush made two visits as president, as did Barack Obama.
President Bill Clinton delivered an address to Justice Department employees a few months after taking office in 1993, saying he wanted the department “to be free of political controversy and political abuse.”
Later, Mr. Clinton would bow to pressure and ask his attorney general, Janet Reno, to appoint a special counsel to investigate his involvement in an Arkansas real estate deal.
Kitty Bennett contributed research.
