Trump Confirms He’s Seeking Damages Against DOJ, Says ‘Any Money’ Will Go To Charity

President Donald Trump confirmed on Tuesday that his legal team is seeking damages from the Department of Justice.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that his legal team was seeking damages from the Department of Justice because “they rigged the election.” While noting the conflict of interest involved in the case, he said that any money he received would go to charity.

“I don’t know what the numbers are, I don’t even talk to them about it,” the president said, referring to the amount of money his legal team has demanded from the Justice Department. “All I know is that they would owe me a lot of money, but I’m not looking for money. I’d give it to charity or something.”

The president noted cases he has already settled with CBS for $16 million and ABC for $15 million. “They paid me a lot of money because what they did was wrong,” the president said before admitting that the DOJ case is different because “I’m the one that makes the decision.”

“That decision would have to go across my desk, and it’s awfully strange to make a decision where I’m paying myself. In other words, did you ever have one of those cases where you have to decide how much you’re paying yourself in damages? But I was damaged very greatly and any money that I would get, I would give to charity,” said Trump.

President Trump on NYT reporting he’s seeking $230 million from the DOJ in response to the investigations into him: “With the country, it’s interesting because I’m the one that makes the decision, right? And that decision would have to go across my desk. And it’s awfully strange… pic.twitter.com/i86VXEJVTq

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 21, 2025

The president’s explanation of his legal wrangling with the Justice Department came in response to a reporter’s question about a story in The New York Times that Trump’s legal team is seeking $230 million in damages from the DOJ for prior investigations into the president.

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Trump’s legal team submitted its first complaints against the DOJ, starting the process that could eventually lead to a lawsuit, in 2023 long before the president began his second term in office. That complaint requested compensation for the FBI’s investigations into the president’s 2016 campaign, and a special counsel investigation into false ties between the president and Russia, according to The New York Times.

Trump’s legal team filed a second complaint in 2024 that is related to the Justice Department’s investigation into his handling of classified documents, which involved an FBI raid on Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago.

The complaints are still administrative claims filed with the Justice Department and may not become a lawsuit, as the people atop the department were positioned there by the president. For instance, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche is one of two people able to sign off on settlements for administrative claims per DOJ guidelines.