“It sort of looks bad, I’m suing myself, right?” Trump said. “So I don’t know. But that was a lawsuit that was very strong, very powerful.”
President Donald Trump is demanding that the U.S. Department of Justice pay him at least $230 million to compensate for damages sustained in the course of federal investigations into him and his business interests.
According to The New York Times, the situation has few, if any, parallels in modern American history. Trump, as a presidential candidate, was hounded by investigations. But he was, ultimately, re-elected—and now heads the government, which must, in turn, review and respond to his allegations.
“As far as all of the litigation,” Trump said on Tuesday, “yeah, they probably owe me a lot of money.”
“I don’t know the numbers, I don’t even talk to them about it,” the president added. “All I know is that they would owe me a lot of money, but I’m not looking for money. I would probably give it to charity or something.”
Trump has yet to file a lawsuit, but reportedly submitted a notice of claim to the Justice Department. In general, notices of claims are a formal prerequisite to filing a lawsuit against the federal government. After a notice of claim has been filed, the defending agency has a limited period of time to approve the claim, deny it, or offer an alternate solution.
Trump has filed at least two notices of claim against the government.
Thef first was filed in late 2023 and seeks violations for alleged violations of his constitutional rights with respect to an FBI investigation into his campaign’s potential collusion with the Russian government during the 2016 election. The second was lodged more recently, in 2024, and accuses the FB I of violating his privacy by searching Mar-a-Lago for classified documents.
“I was damaged very greatly and any money I would get, I would give to charity,” Trump told White House reporters. “I’m the one that makes the decision, and that decision would have to go across my desk and it’s awfully strange to make a decision where I’m paying myself.”
CNBC notes that Trump seemed to allude to his pending claims last week in an Oval Office event.
“I have a lawsuit that was doing very well, and when I became president, I said, I’m sort of suing myself,” Trump said. “I don’t know, how do you settle the lawsuit, I’ll say give me ‘X’ dollars, and I don’t know what to do with the lawsuit.”
“It sort of looks bad, I’m suing myself, right?” Trump said. “So I don’t know. But that was a lawsuit that was very strong, very powerful.”
Sources
Trump Said to Demand Justice Dept. Pay Him $230 Million for Past Cases
Trump wants DOJ to pay him $230 million for previous investigations: Sources
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