Former President Trump gave a wide-ranging speech to House Republicans on Thursday, lashing out at his political enemies and praising his allies.
Trump in particular criticized the prosecutions against him, calling the Department of Justice (DOJ) ‘dirty, no good bastards,’ according to two sources in the room.
One GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital that Trump touted the fundraising and popularity boost he got from his various state and federal criminal charges.
‘He said, ‘They had a saying that we’re going to indict this guy into the White House,’’ the GOP lawmaker said.
The GOP lawmaker said Trump also called President Biden the ‘worst president in history.’
Sources also told Fox News that Trump referred to Biden as a ‘dope.’
Multiple House Republicans said the meeting went well, and that Trump touched on many topics, including military, trade and abortion policies.
Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital that Trump blamed Biden for the presence of Russian warships in Cuba.
‘What was really on his mind today is the fact that Russia has submarines right off the coast of the United States, and he’s just, he’s really upset… and he should be. I’m concerned. We all should be concerned that we’ve got a president that is, that’s so weak that he’s allowed for [this],’ Burlison said.
Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., said Trump hit Biden for the White House’s threat to veto this year’s defense policy bill, which includes a pay raise for members of the military.
‘That’s a winning issue from a presidential race perspective,’ Garcia said. ‘The fact that Biden has now tripled down on this veto threat… President Trump should just be banging Biden over the head every day on the fact that you are not willing to give our troops a pay raise.’
Two additional sources who spoke with Fox News Digital said Trump also urged Republicans to hone an effective message on abortion, warning that it had ‘cost’ the GOP in previous elections.
He said the issue was ‘too important to ignore’ and accused Democrats of having ‘radical’ positions on late-term abortion, the sources said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and the Trump campaign for comment.
Fox News’ Aishah Hasnie contributed to this report