Jeff Sessions says he 'plans to continue' as Attorney General despite Trump saying he shouldn't have hired him

Jeff Sessions has said he plans to continue serving as Attorney General, even after appearing to have lost the confidence of Donald Trump.

"I have the honour of serving as Attorney General," Mr Sessions said at a news conference on Thursday. "It is something that goes beyond any thought I would have ever had for myself. We love this job. We love this department. I plan to continue to do so as long as that is appropriate."

During an interview with The New York Times on Wednesday, the President said he would not have chosen Mr Sessions as Attorney General if he knew that the former senator would recuse himself over matters related to the 2016 presidential campaign.

Federal and congressional investigators are currently probing whether Trump campaign advisers colluded with the Russian government to influence the US election.

Mr Trump's rebuke of Mr Sessions' decision underscores the President's anger with the nation's top law enforcement official, who was one of his earliest political allies. Mr Sessions announced in March that he would recuse himself from the Justice Department's investigation, being headed by the FBI, after it was revealed that he had previously undisclosed interactions with a Russian offiicial during the presidential campaign.

Mr Trump has in the months since complained that Mr Sessions' recusal led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller to lead the Russia inquiry.

"Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself, which frankly I think is very unfair to the President," Mr Trump said to The Times, referring to himself. "How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, 'Thanks, Jeff, but I'm not going to take you.' It's extremely unfair – and that's a mild word – to the President."

"I have done nothing wrong," he later added. "A special counsel should never have been appointed in this case." Since Mr Mueller was appointed, it has been reported that Mr Trump is being investigated for possible obstruction of justice, and that the probe has been expanded to look at transactions involving Trump businesses. Former FBI Director James Comey, who the President fired in May, has said he believes that Mr Trump directed him to drop an investigation into ex-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

Mr Sessions testified before a Senate committee last month that he removed himself from the current Russia investigation only because of a regulation that required it because of his involvement in the Trump campaign.

When asked on Thursday how we can effectively serve as Attorney General if he doesn't have the confidence of Mr Trump, Mr Sessions responded: "We are serving right now."

"The work we are doing is the kind of work that we intend to continue," he said alongside Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe and other officials. The law enforcers were announcing the takedown of AlphaBay, the largest dark web marketplace for drugs, counterfeit goods, weapons, hacking tools and other illicit items.

"Just last week we announced the largest healthcare takedown ever in the United States," Mr Sessions continued, referring to the Justice Department's fraud-related charges against 412 physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other medical professionals. "We had all the major law enforcement leaders in my office yesterday to talk about unified efforts to improve crime-fights with state and local officials. I am totally confident we can continue to run this office in an effective way."