What we know about Trump’s bid to claim $230 million from his own Justice Department

By Hannah Rabinowitz, Katelyn Polantz, Evan Perez, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump’s demand that his own Justice Department hand over $230 million as compensation for federal investigations into his behavior is an unprecedented example of how his past indictment lingers over the presidency.

His ask, made through administrative claims filed in 2023 and 2024 — and reported as of Wednesday to be still on the table by the New York Times — also shines a light on the possible ethics conflicts that arise from his decision to install his former defense lawyers to run the Justice Department.

Trump now has the ability to sue the federal government and leave the courts to decide whether he was harmed and deserved compensation. But, the saga could also end with his own Justice Department negotiating with him, and choosing to cut a deal that would likely require approval from one of his former attorneys.

It is unclear why these claims have resurfaced now.

One person who had worked with Trump in the past simply said Trump doesn’t forget.

“He’s going down the list and checking it twice. And he doesn’t really need to decide to be naughty or nice,” said the person, who was familiar with Trump’s decision making when the most recent claim, related to the search of his Mar-a-Lago home, was filed.

There is no final word on whether Trump will receive that payment, and the DOJ is not required to publicly announce settlements it reaches over administrative claims.

Trump’s $230 million demand, though, far dwarfs past DOJ payouts to the victims of sex abuse and mass shootings whose murder or exploitation were attributable to mistakes by the government.

The claims

Trump filed his two complaints to the Justice Department in the form of an administrative claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act — a first step to see whether a settlement can be reached before suing the government for damages.

Claims are filed on something called a Standard Form 95, in which a person outlines how they were injured by the federal government and what financial compensation they are seeking. Should DOJ officials reject the claim, the person could then file a lawsuit.

In Trump’s case, his attorneys filed two separate administrative claims over allegations that he was damaged by the several federal investigations and prosecutions he faced both during his first term as president and while he was out of office, according to the New York Times and the forms they have published.

The first claim, filed in 2023, seeks damages over the investigations into whether his 2016 presidential campaign had worked with Russia to help him win the election. The second, filed in 2024, accuses the FBI and DOJ of violating Trumps privacy during a search of his Mar-a-Lago estate and of malicious prosecution for the subsequent charges he faced over mishandling classified documents.

While neither investigation resulted in Trump’s conviction (he was never charged in the Russia investigation and a federal judge tossed the classified documents case), the president has pointed to both as evidence that democratic officials weaponized the justice system against him.

In the Mar-a-Lago claim, Trump says he was wronged especially in the decision by the FBI and Justice Department to search his house without his cooperation.

“[Then-Attorney General Merrick] Garland and [then-FBI Director Christopher] Wray should have never approved a raid and subsequent indictment of President Trump because the well-established protocol with former U.S. presidents is to use non-enforcement means to obtain records of the United States,” his claim letter said.

In that claim, Trump requests compensation for his legal costs, which he says were about $15 million related to being a criminal defendant charged in court. Trump also says in his claim he deserves a $100 million compensation for punitive damages.

The lawyer who filed the Mar-a-Lago complaint on Trump’s behalf, Daniel Epstein, hasn’t responded to multiple inquiries from CNN.

Settlement negotiations

Though Trump filed the claims while out of office, the Justice Department did not act on it under the previous administration because of its practice to pause any civil litigation, including administrative claims, while there is a criminal investigation pending, a person familiar with the process told CNN.

Trump’s settlement requests reportedly amount to $230 million — a number that far surpasses the $138.7 million settlement made to the victims of convicted sex abuser Larry Nassar, the $144.4 million settlement made with the families of victims in the Sutherland Springs mass shooting in Texas, and the $88 million settlement made to the families of victims in the Mother Emanuel church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina.

So far in 2025, the federal judgment has paid out only $207 million for settlements in claims made against the Justice Department, according to federal data from the Treasury Department.

That total number represents more than 250 total claims, many of which received payments of less than $2 million each, and are linked to issues of employment discrimination, incidents with the Bureau of Prisons system and environmental hazardous waste cleanup.

If the DOJ agrees to Trump’s staggering request, taxpayers would likely foot the bill.

Trump acknowledged reports of settlement negotiations Tuesday, saying in the Oval Office that he “could be” seeking $230 million from his own Justice Department as compensation for past investigations into him. He professed to have little knowledge of the specifics and said he would give the money to charity.

“I don’t know about the numbers. I don’t even talk to them about it,” Trump said. “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 status of negotiations between Trump’s attorneys and the Justice Department are not clear. Trump acknowledged Tuesday the unprecedented nature of the situation in which he would be potentially “paying himself.”

Trump does not have the authority to personally approve the settlement, however. Such a decision would need to be made by Todd Blanche, his former attorney and current Deputy attorney general, or Stanley Woodward, the associate attorney general who previously worked as counsel to one of Trump’s senior aides charged in the classified documents case.

DOJ spokesperson Chad Gilmartin told CNN that “all officials at the Department of Justice follow the guidance of career ethics officials” should top officials be conflicted in the matter.

Bondi fired her top ethics advisor in July, CNN previously reported.

“He has vacated almost all the internal oversight offices, not only within the Department of Justice, but across the government,” John Dean, President Richard Nixon’s White House Counsel, said in an interview with CNN. Dean said the move was “clearly intentional” and means that “there’s no check here.”

“That doesn’t mean that everybody isn’t watching,” Dean said.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.