Donald Trump is demanding $230 million from his own Justice Department

It is perhaps one of the most bizarre stories of the first nine months of US President Donald Trump’s term in office. As several US media outlets, including the New York Times and the Washington Post, report, Trump is demanding $230 million (around 198 million euros) in compensation from the US Department of Justice. The two newspapers rely on sources close to the president.

The background is the investigations against Trump during Joe Biden’s term of office. The first complaint dates from the end of 2023. Trump’s lawyers are demanding damages for the investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 election campaign and connections to the Trump campaign. Another complaint was filed in summer 2024. It accuses the FBI of violating Trump’s privacy during a search of his Florida property in the summer of 2022. In the letter, Trump’s lawyers accuse the Justice Department of “malicious prosecution.” Trump was charged in the case in federal court in Florida, but the lawsuit was later dropped.

However, since the cases were not dealt with during Joe Biden’s term of office, there is now a unique peculiarity. Donald Trump’s Justice Department must examine the current US president’s complaint. The ethical conflict makes matters worse, as many of Trump’s former lawyers have now been appointed to the top of the Justice Department.

Trump commented on the matter for the first time on Tuesday. “I suffered a great deal of damage at that time,” he claimed, pointing out that if he received money he would donate it or use it to renovate the White House. But Trump is also aware of the conflict that the topic brings with it. “I’m the one making the decision and it’s extremely strange to make a decision where I’m paying myself.”

According to media reports, the two people in the Justice Department who can approve the requests are Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Civil Division Chief Stanley Woodward Jr. Blanche has been Trump’s criminal defense attorney in recent years, while Woodward has represented a number of Trump associates in court. The Justice Department noted in a New York Times request that “all employees follow the instructions of the officials responsible for professional ethics.” However, their boss was fired by Justice Minister Pam Bondi in July.

Ethics professor Bennett L. Gershman called the process a farce in the New York Times: “The people who serve him should decide whether he wins or loses. This is completely bizarre and almost too absurd to believe.”

It is unclear whether Trump will actually receive the payments and in what amount. The Justice Department is not required to publicly disclose an agreement.