Trump told 60 Minutes he will always hate his enemies. He promised "retribution" in 2023. Since then, the record shows prosecutors, grand juries and judges as the last line between his grudges and your front door.
Opinion by Joseph Jackson, Editor and Publisher · ST. PETERSBURG (Mon., Nov. 9, 2026)
The short version
Trump on Sunday: "I do hate some of my enemies, and I always will." [1]
His Justice Department has charged or investigated a former FBI director, a state attorney general, sitting members of Congress, a Fed governor, journalists and an Olympic swimmer. [2][3]
Grand juries and judges have thrown out case after case. One target, John Bolton, has been convicted. [2][4]
Donald Trump told us what this would be. On March 4, 2023, he stood at CPAC and said: "I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution." [5]
On Sunday, he told 60 Minutes the hate isn't going anywhere. Asked if he could forgive James Comey and Nancy Pelosi to get into heaven, he said: "I probably cannot do that, no, because I do hate some of my enemies, and I always will." [1][6]
Those are his words, not ours. That's Tier 1: the man responsible said it himself, more than once, on camera.
The question isn't whether he feels it. It's what he has done with the most powerful law enforcement agency on earth.
The list he says isn't a list
"It's not a list, but I think there will be others," Trump said, according to CNN's retaliation tracker. [7] Here is who's on the not-a-list, according to Poli Alert's Nov. 8 roundup, checked against CNN, ABC News and Protect Democracy: [2][3][7][8]
James Comey, former FBI director. Charged three times. The first case was thrown out in November 2025. The second, filed in April, charges him with threatening Trump over a beach photo of seashells spelling "8647." The third, filed in October, alleges a 2016 leak.
Letitia James, New York attorney general, who won the civil fraud case against Trump's company. Indicted, dismissed, and then two grand juries refused to charge her again.
Lisa Cook, Federal Reserve governor. Trump tried to fire her. The Supreme Court said he couldn't.
Jerome Powell, Fed chair. A criminal probe over a building renovation. A judge quashed the subpoenas, and it was dropped in April.
Sens. Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin and four House Democrats, after a video telling troops to refuse illegal orders. Trump called for arrests. A grand jury declined to indict.
Cassidy Hutchinson, the Jan. 6 witness. A grand jury declined to indict her on Oct. 27.
Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, journalists charged over a church protest they say they were covering.
David Hearn, an Olympian, indicted over pool damage that the government later admitted a botched installation caused. Dismissed Oct. 1.
And the newest: on Saturday, four days after losing Congress, Trump said he was "ordering the Department of Justice to look into" Democrats preparing oversight, and wrote that "These SLEAZEBAGS should go to jail." [9]
Florida's piece of it
The "grand conspiracy" probe of the people who investigated Russia in 2016 runs out of Miami, and subpoenaed Comey in March. [2] Trump fired his own attorney general, Tampa's Pam Bondi, in April and put his former personal lawyer, Todd Blanche, in charge. [9]
The Six Moves
Force under color of law. Every one of these cases came with a badge and a court filing. That's what makes it dangerous. Revenge in a suit looks like justice until a grand jury reads the file.
The official story. "Weaponization." "Lawfare." Trump says he's the victim, and he's right about one thing: he was charged in four cases himself. But the people he blames for that aren't the only ones getting charged. An Olympic swimmer is not a deep-state operative.
Accountability delayed and partial. Here's the good news, and it's real. The system has held more than it has broken. Career prosecutors refused to bring cases. Grand juries of ordinary citizens said no, again and again. Judges dismissed. The Supreme Court protected the Fed.
What his defenders say
"Bolton was guilty." True. Bolton pleaded guilty in June to one felony count of keeping national security information. [4] It's the one case that held. It also started under the Biden administration and was run by career prosecutors, unlike the Comey and James cases. [8][10] One real case doesn't clean up the rest.
"He's just saying what he feels. Feelings aren't crimes." Correct. Hating your enemies is legal. Ordering the Justice Department to go after them is the problem. Before Comey and James were indicted, Trump publicly called on his attorney general to charge them, according to Axios and The Hill. [10][11]
"Democrats did it first." Trump was charged by grand juries, in cases a jury and judges heard. If that was wrong, the answer is fewer political prosecutions, not a mirror image with the president personally naming the defendants.
Why "us"
We're a small Florida newsroom. We sell shirts that say "8647." The same four numbers are in the indictment of a former FBI director. [2][3]
We'll keep selling them. We believe it's protected speech, and we'd say so in court. But when the government charges a citizen over seashells, it isn't only Comey on the list. It's anyone who looks at those numbers and laughs.
This is what a revenge tour looks like when it has subpoena power. The defense is the same one that's worked all along: grand jurors who say no, judges who read the law, and voters who did what they did on Nov. 3.
Democrats take Congress in January. Trump says the hate is forever. Hold every one of them to the record, starting with him.
Disclosure: FMNN sells "8647" merchandise.
Related reading on FMNN
Trump on 60 Minutes: "I Do Hate Some of My Enemies, and I Always Will"
Trump Orders DOJ to "Look Into" Democrats Planning Oversight Probes
Sources
CBS News / 60 Minutes via Yahoo, "Trump: 'I do hate some of my enemies, and I always will,'" Nov. 9, 2026 — https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-hate-enemies-always-000000676.html
Poli Alert (Dee Dee Henderson), "From James Comey to Letitia James: Every Time Trump Turned the Justice Department on His Critics," Nov. 8, 2026 — https://www.polialert.com/political-news/trump-justice-department-critics-comey-letitia-james/
Protect Democracy, Retaliatory Action Tracker — https://protectdemocracy.org/work/retaliatory-action-tracker/
American Oversight, criminal investigations into Trump's perceived enemies (updated July 13, 2026) — https://americanoversight.org/investigation/trumps-retaliation-against-his-opponents/
OSV News, "Trump vows 'retribution' and 'final battle' at a diminished CPAC," March 2023 — https://thecentralminnesotacatholic.org/trump-vows-retribution-and-final-battle-at-a-diminished-cpac/
CNN live coverage, Nov. 8, 2026 — https://www.cnn.com/2026/11/08/politics/live-news/midterm-election-trump-congress
CNN, "Tracking Trump's retaliation" — https://edition.cnn.com/politics/retaliation-tracker-trump-vis
ABC News, "Here's a list of the individuals, including James Comey, targeted by the Trump administration" — https://abcnews.com/US/list-individuals-including-lisa-cook-targeted-trump-administration/story?id=124968309
FMNN, "Trump Orders DOJ to 'Look Into' Democrats Planning Oversight Probes" (Trump's posts via trumpstruth.org; Bondi firing via Reuters) — https://www.floridamannewsnetwork.com/news/trump-orders-doj-democrats-extortion
The Hill via Yahoo, "Bolton indictment adds to web of Trump foe prosecutions" — https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/bolton-indictment-adds-trump-foe-110339893.html
Axios, "These are Trump's targets facing charges and who could be next," Oct. 17, 2025 — https://www.axios.com/2025/10/17/trump-indictments-prosecution-targets-fbi-doj