Trump Sues Justice Department for $230 Million, Says He Has Final Say
Trump and his past lawyers are in positions that could approve the payout. The situation is unprecedented.
Oct. 22 2025, Published 3:47 p.m. ET
Trump says the justice department owes him money for investigating him after his first term in office.
It seems that the word "unprecedented" is used often these days, but this situation truly deserves the term. President Trump, the only president to get indicted, is now suing the Justice Department for investigations it conducted prior to his second term in office. Trump says the issue will come across his own desk.
Trump is suing the DOJ for $230 million.
He's seeking damages for the DOJ looking into Russian election tampering in connection with his 2016 campaign and the F.B.I.'s search of Mar-a-Lago.
Trump's previous lawyers will have oversight over the decision, which draws ethics concerns.
The process of reviewing Trump's claims would usually be handled by impartial officials in the civil division of the Justice Department. However, Trump's past lawyers now occupy these positions, per The Guardian. Todd Blanche, now the attorney general, was Trump's lead lawyer in his Mar-a-Lago documents case. The associate attorney general is Stanley Woodward, who represented Trump's co-defendant.
Trump is recognizing the absurdity of the situation, but is apparently taking no steps to see that a neutral third party handles the matter.
“I’m suing myself ... I’ll say, ‘Give me X dollars,’ and I don’t know what to do with the lawsuit," Trump said, per The Guardian. "It’s interesting, ’cause I’m the one that makes the decision, right?"
Trump said, "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," per The New York Times.
There may not be an announcement if Trump gets the money he's asking for.
American taxpayers may not get a heads-up that their money is being used to pay Trump's settlement. The New York Times notes: "If or when the Trump administration pays the president what could be hundreds of millions of dollars, there may be no immediate official declaration that it did so, according to current and former department officials."
What would Trump do with the money?
Trump said that if he were given the money he's demanding, he would either give it to charity or use it "to help pay for the ballroom I’m building at the White House," per Newsweek.