What did Donald Trump do today?

He announced he had "total confidence" in Attorney General Jefferson Sessions.

Sessions recused himself today from the ongoing investigations into Trump's ties to the Russian government via his campaign and transition team, after it was revealed that he had lied to the Senate Judiciary Committee about whether he had met with Russian government officials during the campaign. Sessions was one of Trump's earliest and most ardent supporters, and was the chair of the Trump campaign's national security committee. 

In remarks shortly before Sessions announced his recusal, Trump claimed today that he was unaware of Sessions' meetings with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, but that he felt Sessions "probably" hadn't lied under oath.

Sessions may not take great comfort from Trump's endorsement. The last administration official Trump expressed "total confidence" in was Michael Flynn, hours before Flynn was forced to resign for lying to the FBI and the vice-president about his own contacts with Kislyak.

Why should anyone care about this?

• An attorney general who is caught lying about an investigation he will now become a subject of is not worthy of anyone's "total confidence."