U.S. President Donald Trump congratulates Jeff Sessions after he was sworn in as U.S. Attorney General as his wife Mary Sessions looks on during a ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., February 9, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump used the swearing-in ceremony of Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday to sign three executive orders, including ones targeting transnational drug cartels and those who commit crimes against law enforcement.

“These dangerous times require a determined attorney general,” Trump said at an Oval Office ceremony for Sessions, who said rising crime is a “dangerous, permanent trend” in the United States and also promised to “end this lawlessness” of illegal immigration.