Trump falsely claims US justice department was ready to kill him

Ex-president recasts FBI's standard policy statement limiting use of deadly force into claim Biden officials were locked and loaded'

On social media and in a Tuesday fundraising email, Donald Trump raised an alarming concern. The Department of Justice, he said, was ready to kill him.

The wild distortion came against the backdrop of Trump's hush-money trial in New York and amid fears of rising political violence around the coming presidential election, predominantly from the far right. The comments cement an inverted picture Trump and his allies have painted, in which a patriotic Trump is pitted against anti-democratic deep-state foes.