The US attorney general, Jeff Sessions, insisted on Thursday that he would continue in his job “as long as that is appropriate”, despite Donald Trump’s barrage of criticism of him. Trump had said in an interview published late Wednesday that he regretted giving him the job after Sessions recused himself from investigations into links with the Trump campaign and Russia.

As he marked six months in office, the president appeared increasingly upset over Sessions stepping aside on the issue and Robert Mueller subsequently being appointed as the special counsel investigating possible ties between Trump and Russia. Amid signs of Mueller’s inquiries expanding, and just hours after Trump had publicly criticized Sessions, who was one of Trump’s earliest supporters, the attorney general had to appear at a scheduled press event, where he gave a muted defense of his continued work to further the president’s agenda. Sessions said: “I have the honor of serving as attorney general. It’s something that goes beyond any thought I would have ever had for myself. We love this job. We love this department and I plan to continue to do so, as long as that is appropriate.”(theguardian)…[+]