President Trump on Tuesday confirmed his legal team is seeking money from his own Justice Department as compensation for past investigations into his conduct.
Trump was asked about a New York Times report that his legal team is demanding $230 million in compensation.
“I don’t know 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 would give it to charity or something,” Trump said.
“Now with the country it’s interesting because I’m the one that makes the decision. And that decision would have to go across my desk,” Trump added. “And it’s awfully strange to make a decision where I am paying myself. Did you ever have one of those cases where you have to decide how much you are paying yourself in damages? But I was damaged greatly, and any money I would get I would give to charity.”
The situation puts Trump’s own appointees in the position of determining whether to make the settlement with Trump. Among those making the decision would be Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who served as Trump’s personal attorney in his criminal cases.
Justice Department spokesperson Chad Gilmartin said in a statement that officials “follow the guidance of career ethics officials.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi fired the department’s top ethics adviser in July.
The Times reported that Trump submitted complaints that serve as precursors to lawsuits alleging his rights were violated in the investigation into possible Russian coordination with the Trump campaign in 2016, and again when the FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago property in 2022 as part of a probe of his handling of classified documents.
A second claim alleged harassment by top Justice Department officials during the Biden administration.
“President Trump continues to fight back against all Democrat-led Witch Hunts, including the ‘Russia, Russia, Russia’ hoax and the un-Constitutional and un-American weaponization of our justice system by Crooked Joe Biden and his handlers,” a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said in a statement to The Hill.
Trump faced federal investigations led by then-special counsel Robert Mueller over Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Former special counsel Jack Smith also led investigations into Trump over his handling of classified documents and his efforts to remain in power after losing the 2020 election. Those cases came to an end after Trump won the 2024 election.
Ella Lee and Zach Schonfeld contributed
