US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that his Justice Department might owe $230 million — and he’d be the one to decide whether to cut himself a check.Trump is seeking $230 million as compensation for past investigations into him, though he professed to have little knowledge of the specifics and said he would give the money to charity.
What Trump said?
“It could be,” Trump responded when asked by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins about a New York Times report that he was seeking the money in connection with complaints he had filed about past DOJ investigations. “I don’t know about the numbers. I don’t even talk to them about it. All I know is that they would owe me a lot of money. But I’m not looking for money. I’d give it to charity or something,” Trump said in the Oval Office.
Will the president decide his own payout?
Though many of the details remain unclear, Trump acknowledged the unprecedented nature of the situation in which he would be potentially “paying myself” damages to resolve claims that the DOJ under his predecessor had wronged him.“That decision would have to go across my desk. And it’s awfully strange to make a decision where I’m paying myself. In other words, did you ever have one of those cases where you have to decide how much you’re paying yourself in damages?” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about the report.“But I was damaged very greatly.”As a private citizen, President claimed he was entitled to money from the government. As president, he could now, in effect, order that government to pay him. If the payment came in the form of a settlement, the White House might be under no legal obligation to disclose it to the public, the Washington Post reported.The New York Times reported Tuesday on that Trump was seeking $230 million in compensation and that any settlement might be approved by Justice Department officials who defended Trump, or those around him, during the investigations.
Trump filed multimillion-dollar claims against DOJ before reelection
Trump first lodged the complaints in 2023 and 2024 — before his reelection — alleging that he was wronged by past federal investigations, The New York Times reported. The first claim centers on alleged violations of his rights during the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The second focuses on the classified documents case, which was dismissed after his return to office, and accuses the FBI of breaching his privacy during the 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago estate. That filing reportedly sought $100 million in damages, as per CNN. “President Trump continues to fight back against all Democrat-led witch hunts,” his legal spokesperson said, calling the investigations part of the “weaponization of our justice system by Crooked Joe Biden and his handlers.” The Times noted it remains unclear whether Trump or his lawyers have taken new steps to pursue payment. Both filings were made under an administrative process that allows citizens to seek compensation from federal agencies — a procedure separate from a court lawsuit. Complicating matters, two senior Justice Department officials who could now review Trump’s claims previously defended him or his associates. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche served as Trump’s criminal defense attorney, while Civil Division chief Stanley Woodward represented one of Trump’s co-defendants in the classified documents case.
