Trump Responds to Report He’s Seeking $230 Million From DOJ for Past Investigations

President Donald Trump on Tuesday weighed in on reports that he might seek restitution from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for past investigations mounted against him by the agency.

A report from The New York Times claimed the president was seeking as much as $230 million from the federal prosecutorial agency, which he says engaged in politically motivated prosecutions against him.

Trump said on Tuesday that the agency owes him “a lot of money” for these investigations. He noted that he would have the ultimate say on any payout because any decision would “have to go across my desk.”

Trump said that he would give the money to charity or the White House if he received a settlement.

“I don’t even talk to [my lawyers] about [the lawsuit],” Trump said. “All I know is that they [the DOJ] would owe me a lot of money. But I’m not looking for money. I’d give it to charity or something. I would give it to charity, any money. But look what they did. They rigged the election.”

The comments come after The New York Times report claimed that Trump had filed suit prior to winning reelection in relation to the FBI’s 2023 raid on his Mar-a-Lago estate, carried out in search of classified documents being held on the premises.

Trump has consistently acknowledged that there were classified documents at the estate, but that they were legally allowed to be there under the Presidential Records Act.

The suit also reportedly references the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, an investigation into allegations of collusion between his campaign and Russia.

The New York Times reported that both are being handled under an arbitration process meant to limit public suits by settling early.

Multiple follow-up investigations by the federal government—including a probe by Special Counsel Robert Mueller III and another by Special Counsel John Durham—found no evidence that such collusion had taken place.

Durham’s report cited “confirmation bias” as a leading cause of the investigations being opened in the first place.

During a White House appearance last week alongside Todd Blanche—the former Trump lawyer who oversaw his defense during the Mar-a-Lago investigation and who now serves as deputy attorney general—Trump indicated his interest in a payout.

He acknowledged the odd position he was in as a citizen suing the government but also serving as the commander in chief.

“I have a lawsuit that was doing very well, and when I became president, I said: ‘I’m suing myself. I don’t know. How do you settle the lawsuit?’” he said. “I’ll say, ‘Give me X dollars,’ and I don’t know what to do with the lawsuit. It’s a great lawsuit and now I won, it looks bad. I’m suing myself, so I don’t know.”

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.