Trump seeking $230 million from Justice Department over investigations into him, report says

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Cranes were spotted near the White House as the next steps to President Trump’s $200 million, 90,000-square-foot expansion of the East Wing begins.

President Donald Trump is asking the U.S. Department of Justice to pay him $230 million in compensation for investigations during his first term and a legal case brought against him after he left office, according to the New York Times.

Trump has submitted two complaints through an administrative claims process, according to the newspaper, which cited people familiar with the matter.

The president seemed to confirm the compensation effort when asked about it during an Oval Office event Oct. 21, remarking on the extraordinary nature of the president potentially approving a huge payout for himself from the government he runs.

“You know that decision would have to go across my desk,” Trump said. “And it’s awfully strange to make a decision where I’m paying myself… to get one of those cases where you have to decide how much you’re paying yourself in damages.”

“But I was damaged very greatly,” Trump argued. “And any money that I would get, I would give to charity.”

Trump repeated his unfounded claims that there was fraud in the 2020 election, which he lost to former President Joe Biden.

Asked later about the amount he’s seeking, Trump said “I don’t know what the numbers are. I don’t even talk to them about it.”

The New York Times reported that Trump’s first claim alleges his rights were violated, including during the investigation into whether his 2016 presidential campaign had ties to Russia. The second claim alleges Trump’s privacy was violated by the FBI search at his Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Florida, during an investigation into whether he misshandled classified documents, according to the Times.

Both claims were filed before Trump won his 2024 campaign, according to the newspaper.