Trump Says Justice Department Likely Owes Him Money Over Probes

President Donald Trump said he believed the Justice Department likely owes him compensation, following a report that he was seeking some $230 million after he faced multiple federal investigations.

“As far as all the litigation, everything that’s going on, yeah, they probably owe me a lot of money,” Trump told reporters Tuesday at the White House.

The New York Times reported earlier that Trump had initiated administrative claim processes alleging violations of his rights. The complaints were related to investigations into whether his campaign colluded with Russia in connection with the 2016 election and his post-presidential retention of classified documents, according to the paper.

While prosecutors did not find evidence that Trump had coordinated with Russia in 2016, the case over his handling of classified material was dismissed after he won a second presidential term. According to the New York Times report, Trump filed a 2023 complaint seeking damages for the investigation into Russian election tampering and a separate complaint in 2024 accusing the FBI of violating his privacy when agents searched his Mar-a-Lago resort for classified documents.

President Donald Trump during a Diwali celebration in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on Oct. 21.

Photographer: Allison Robbert/Bloomberg

Decisions about whether to pay Trump damages for the claims would be made by senior Justice Department officials — who may possibly include some attorneys who represented him during the investigations.

When asked about the claims and whether the senior officials that formerly represented Trump in private practice are recused due to possible conflicts of interest, the DOJ said in a statement that “in any circumstance, all officials at the Department of Justice follow the guidance of career ethics officials.” The DOJ declined to comment on the status of the claims.

At the White House, Trump said he did not plan to personally retain any settlement he won from taxpayers.

“As I get money from our country, I’ll do something nice with it, like give it to charity or give it to the White House while we restore the White House,” Trump said.

The president cast the issue as being about wrongful prosecution rather than monetary gain.

“I’m not looking for money. I’m looking for really — I think it’s gotta be handled in a proper way,” he said.

--With assistance from Chris Strohm.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Jennifer A. Dlouhy in Washington at jdlouhy1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Mario Parker at mparker22@bloomberg.net

Justin Sink, Meghashyam Mali

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