President Donald Trump on Sunday defended his administration's efforts to reform the US criminal justice system, and simultaneously railed against his critics.

In his late-night tweets, Trump took issue with multiple Grammy Award winner John Legend and his wife, television host and model Christine Teigen.

Trump's tweets follow an NBC Nightly News segment on criminal justice and wrongfully accused inmates. Legend, who appeared in the segment, is the founder of FREEAMERICA, an organization built to raise awareness for criminal justice reform.

Teigen, who has been an outspoken critic of Trump for nearly a decade, was blocked by Trump on Twitter in 2017 and was not tagged in his tweets.

Parts of the NBC series were broadcasted twice last week, which included mentions of Trump's role in the passage of new reforms.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump on Sunday defended his administration's efforts to reform the US criminal justice system, and simultaneously railed against his critics — namely television host and model Christine Teigen, and her husband, multiple Grammy Award winner John Legend.

"When all of the people pushing so hard for Criminal Justice Reform were unable to come even close to getting it done, they came to me as a group and asked for my help," Trump tweeted on Sunday evening. "I got it done with a group of Senators & others who would never have gone for it. Obama couldn't come close."

Trump has taken several measures to reform the US criminal justice system amid bipartisan support. In December 2018, Trump signed the First Step Act, which will reduce mandatory minimum sentences on a case-by-case basis and better prepare inmates for their lives after prison through education and vocational workshops.

Roughly 3,100 inmates were released from federal prisons in July, after the new bill recalculated their good-behavior time in prison. The bill was hailed as a signature piece of legislation amid intense scrutiny of the US's justice system in recent years.

Read more: Chrissy Teigen had the perfect response to following Donald Trump on Twitter again

But Trump said he had reservations over who was taking credit for the reform, and alleged that people who "had virtually nothing to do with it" were "taking the praise."

"Guys like boring musician [John Legend] and his filthy mouthed wife, are talking now about how great it is — but I didn't see them around when we needed help getting it passed," Trump tweeted.

In his series of late-night tweets, Trump also railed against news outlets by alleging they were covering the Republican-led effort unfairly.

"'Anchor' [Lester Holt of NBC Nightly News] doesn't even bring up the subject of President Trump or the Republicans when talking about the importance or passage of Criminal Justice Reform," Trump said in his tweet. "They only talk about the minor players, or people that had nothing to do with it."

"And the people that so desperately sought my help when everyone else had failed, all they talk about now is Impeaching President Trump," Trump added.

Trump's tweets follow an NBC Nightly News segment on criminal justice and wrongfully accused inmates. Parts of the series were broadcasted twice last week, which included mentions of Trump's role in the passage of the First Step Act.

"But things have been changing," Holt narrated in the fourth act of the series. "You may have heard of the First Step Act, signed into law late last year by President Trump, which is projected to reduce the sentences of thousands of non-violent offenders in federal prisons."

Legend, who appeared in the segment, is the founder of FREEAMERICA, an organization built to raise awareness for criminal justice reform.

Legend's efforts include funding startups created by former inmates and people affected by the criminal justice system.

Teigen, who has been an outspoken critic of Trump for nearly a decade, was blocked by Trump on Twitter in 2017 and was not tagged in his tweets.

"I still don't know why I'm not blocked," Legend said to Vogue in 2018. "I have said as many bad things about him as she has. Maybe it's because I'm a man; I have no idea."

Teigen fired back in response to Trump's tweet on Sunday evening: "Lol what a p--- a-- b----," she said on Twitter. "Tagged everyone but me. An honor, mister president."