Trump would like the government he leads to pay him billions

"Of all the ways President Trump has pushed the boundaries of executive power, one stands out to lawyers and watchdogs. The president wants the government he leads to pay him billions of dollars. Trump has filed multiple claims arguing he's been hurt by Justice Department investigations and the leak of his tax returns years ago. Now it's up to his own political appointees to determine whether to settle with their boss and for how much taxpayer money."

""There is a glaring conflict of interest with Trump being on both sides of the claim," said Edward Whelan, a former lawyer at the Justice Department and a political conservative who once clerked for the late Justice Antonin Scalia. "It is outrageous that he and those answering to him would be deciding how the government responds to these extravagant claims.""

"In December, President Trump was in North Carolina nearing the end of a speech about the economy when out of nowhere, he started talking about the FBI search of his Florida resort in 2022. "I had these animals trying to attack me at Mar-a-Lago," he said. "They went into my wife's closet." Federal agents seized classified documents from a bathroom, a ballroom and an office, part of a sprawling and court-approved investigation into unlawful retention of government secrets and alleged obstruction of justice."

President Trump has filed multiple claims seeking billions from the federal government, asserting harm from Justice Department investigations and a past leak of his tax returns. Political appointees must decide whether to settle and how much taxpayer money to pay. Legal experts warn of a glaring conflict of interest with the president effectively on both sides of the claims. Trump viewed the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago resort as a personal attack and sought $230 million related to that search. Federal agents seized classified documents during a court-approved investigation into unlawful retention of secrets and alleged obstruction of justice. Filing lawsuits, including weak or frivolous ones, is a long-standing practice for him.

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