Jeff Sessions praises Trump 10 years after helping elect him and their famous falling out: ‘He’s still delivering’

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It has been nearly 10 years since Jeff Sessions, then Alabama’s junior senator, took the stage with Donald Trump and became the first in Congress to endorse the political outsider for president.

Today, years after serving as Trump’s first Attorney General and their famous falling out, Sessions has nothing but praise for Trump as he finishes the first week of his second nonconsecutive term as president.

Sessions told AL.com that Trump’s platform on immigration, energy, and the economy remains unchanged since 2016.

“I’m very pleased with what he is doing,” Sessions said. “The agenda items that caused me to endorse him back in 2016, he’s still delivering on.”

Sessions, who served as Trump’s Attorney General from 2017 to 2018, told AL.com on Thursday that the former president continues to champion the same “America First” agenda that earned his support nearly a decade ago.

Sessions, then a conservative leader in the U.S. Senate on immigration policy, became the first senator to endorse Trump during a campaign rally in Madison.

The two were first teamed up during a rally in 2015 in Mobile when Trump, then a hopeful for the GOP nomination, appeared on stage with the senator during a rally at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

Sessions then became one of the Trump campaign’s strategists on immigration in 2016.

Stephen Miller, who served as Sessions’ communications director, also in 2016 joined Trump’s presidential campaign as a senior policy adviser. Miller is now Trump’s deputy chief of policy serving as an architect of Trump’s immigration policies.

“I think (Trump) will be very successful in protecting American manufacturing from unfair competition, ending massive illegality at the border, producing more American energy and I think he’ll work very hard to try and end and avoid wars rather than allowing wars to take over,” said Sessions, a Mobile Republican who served in the U.S. Senate from 1997-2017.

‘A powerful leader’

As U.S. Attorney General, Sessions’ recusal from investigations related to Russia’s involvement in the 2016 presidential election drew Trump’s wrath. For months, Trump bashed Sessions in public, making fun of his Southern accent and saying he “should be ashamed of himself” for allowing the special counsel’s investigation.

When Sessions resigned as Attorney General on Nov. 7, 2018, his Secret Service security detail ended.

The issue about security has surfaced in recent days after John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, had his Secret Service protection revoked. The security had been granted to Bolton because of threats on his life from Iran, Bolton told national outlets.

Sessions has praised Trump in recent months despite the high-profile falling out the two had years ago, and which lingered through Trump’s first term. Trump said in a 2019 sit-down with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that appointing Sessions was his “biggest mistake.”

Sessions, in July, said he was praying for Trump following an attempted assassination during an outdoor rally in Butler, Penn.

“President Trump is a powerful leader. He never waivers,” Sessions said.

“He is always out front. He is physically courageous, and he will not be intimidated from taking his case to the American people. You can be sure this won’t stop President Trump.”

Attempted comeback

Sessions attempted a political comeback in the 2020 Senate election, attempting to reclaim his old Senate seat held by Democratic U.S. Sen. Doug Jones. Sessions lost the Republican primary to Tommy Tuberville, who was endorsed by Trump. Tuberville then defeated Jones in the General Election.

The loss was a blow after Sessions’ decades of service as Alabama’s Attorney General, a U.S. Attorney in Mobile, U.S. Senator, and having a 1986 nomination to be a federal judge derailed.

“I leave with no regrets,” Sessions said after his 2020 defeat. “On recusal, I followed the law. And I save the president’s bacon in the process. I leave elected office with my integrity in tact.”

Looking now to the future, Sessions credits Trump with being a fighter in defense of his agenda, something he anticipates occurring again.

He said he doesn’t believe the Port of Mobile will be harmed with blanket tariffs that are likely to be imposed by Trump soon. Proposals as of Thursday include a 10% tariff on Chinese imports and a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico.

“There might be some diminishment on imports, but the policy is to strengthen the American economy and American productivity and hopefully we can export more than we are doing now so I don’t think ports will be suffering significant damage,” Sessions said.

He added, “It’s an agenda, I think, is good for America. I’m very pleased with what I’m hearing so far.”

Sessions said he believes Trump and his likely Attorney General, Pam Bondi, will face plenty of pushback from Democrats.

She was the first woman elected as Florida’s Attorney General from 2011-2019.

“I think that was a good decision,” Sessions said. “I think choosing to nominate her was a good decision. She was the AG for Florida and that is a great preparation for the job.”

“It’s not easy and when I was AG, there was a lawsuit on everything you can imagine,” Sessions said. “Every policy that work, they fought. I would think that will be a part of it.”

Sessions declined to comment about Trump’s initial choice for Attorney General, former Florida U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz who now hosts political talk show on One America News Network.

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