WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, newly incensed by campaign allegations, plunged back into his criticism of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, claiming in an interview that Sessions “never took control of the Justice Department” after Trump put him there. Sessions quickly hit back, declaring that he and his department “will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.”

Trump was interviewed on “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday, the day after his former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to eight counts — and implicated the president — and former campaign manager Paul Manafort was convicted of financial crimes unrelated to the 2016 presidential campaign. The interview aired Thursday.

Trump has lashed out repeatedly in the past at Sessions, the Alabama Republican who was the first senator to endorse the celebrity businessman but then recused himself shortly after taking office from the special counsel investigation that led to the criminal cases and is still underway into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.