US PRESIDENT Donald Trump, still nursing resentment against Attorney-General Jeff Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia investigation, says he wishes he’d picked a different leader of the Justice Department.

Mr Trump tweeted a quote from Republican congressman Trey Gowdy, who said Mr Sessions should have told Mr Trump before accepting the job that he planned to recuse himself from the investigation.

Trump wrote “And I wish I did!” at the suggestion he might have chosen someone else.

It comes amid fresh news reports that Mr Trump had asked Mr Sessions to rescind his recusal.

Mr Sessions recused himself for possible conflict of interest, leading to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, the New York Post reports.

President Trump reportedly told Attorney-General Sessions to reverse the pivotal decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation.

Mr Trump confronted Mr Sessions about the recusal at his Mar-a-Lago resort in March 2017, after telling aides he needed a “loyalist” in that role — and Mr Sessions refused to change his mind, according to The New York Times.

The president had publicly excoriated Mr Sessions’ decision, calling it “disgraceful” in a tweet.

Mr Trump also told Mr Sessions that choosing him to be Attorney-General was one of the worst decisions he had made, called him an “idiot,” and said that he should resign, the Times reported in 2017.

Mr Mueller is looking into the president’s treatment of Mr Sessions as part of an inquiry into whether Mr Trump obstructed justice in the investigation, the paper said.

Mr Sessions was interviewed by Mr Mueller’s investigators in January and the special counsel would like to ask Mr Trump about the Sessions recusal and his reaction, according to questions obtained by the Times.

Mr Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani told the paper that although he didn’t know whether Mr Trump asked for Mr Sessions to reverse the decision it would be under his authority to do so.