President Trump, while speaking to reporters in North Carolina on Friday, boasted about his claim against the federal government requesting a large payout in taxpayer money over legal battles he faced after leaving office in 2021.
Turmp submitted two claims against the Justice Department (DOJ) seeking up to $230 million in damages, The New York Times reported earlier this year.
The first, filed in 2023, alleges violations of his rights stemming from the probe of Russian election interference during the 2016 presidential election. The second, submitted in 2024, accused the FBI under former President Biden of violating his privacy by raiding his Mar-a-Lago resort in 2022 for classified documents.
“We have all the evidence,” Trump told the crowd in Rocky Mount, N.C. late Friday. “And we have to do something about it. We have to do something about it. It’s illegal and disgusting.”
“You know, I brought a lawsuit, and I’m winning the lawsuit. There’s only one problem. I’m the one who has to settle it,” he said. “In other words, I am suing, and I’m the one that’s supposed to settle it.”
He continued to brag that there’s “never been a case like this.”
“Donald Trump sues the United States of America. Donald Trump becomes president. And now Donald Trump has to settle the suit,” the president added. “I hereby give myself $1 billion.”
Trump then suggested that he could donate the money to charity, with some reservations.
“Actually, maybe I shouldn’t give it to charity. Maybe I should keep the money. No? A lot of people say do it. I don’t wanna do it,” he continued. “But whatever happens, it’s all going to good charities.”
The proposed settlement has been picked apart by legal experts who say the request for millions of dollars over the legal battles — which were dismissed after Trump won the 2024 election — is unusual and could be deemed unethical.
Rupa Bhattacharyya, who reviewed settlement requests in her prior role as director of the Torts Branch of the DOJ’s Civil Division, previously told The Hill that the filing of administrative claims is not unusual, but that the president is continuing to sue his own administration.
“It’s also just completely unheard of,” Bhattacharyya said. “There’s never been a case where the president of the United States would ask the department that he oversees to make a decision in his favor that would result in millions of dollars lining his own pocket at the expense of the American taxpayer.”
DOJ spokesperson Chad Gilmartin said in a statement that officials “follow the guidance of career ethics officials.”
However, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who previously served as Trump’s personal attorney, would be in charge of determining whether to agree to the president’s request.
Lawmakers have raised concerns with the perception of impartiality.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has oversight of the Justice Department, said while Trump may be entitled to some compensation, Blanche should not be the person signing off on the deal.
“He shouldn’t decide, because he’s his former lawyer,” Graham said, when asked whether Blanche should recuse himself from the decision, which is related to former special counsel Jack Smith’s election interference and classified documents cases.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) echoed those worries, warning that the political “optics” of the president receiving a windfall payment from his own DOJ raises “concerns.”
He also flagged that the timing of the news was “horrible,” as it came out during the 43-day government shutdown — which shined a light on affordability issues.
House Democrats also launched a probe into the potential settlement.
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