Critics Attack Trump For Demanding $230 Million From DOJ

The president has filed two administrative complaints against the DOJ, one for the investigation over 2016 Russian interference claims and the other for the investigation into mishandled classified information, per the Times.

“I have a lawsuit that was doing very well, and when I became president. I said, I’m sort of suing myself. I don’t know, how do you settle the lawsuit?? I’ll say give me X dollars, and I don’t know what to do with the lawsuit,” Trump told reporters. “It sort of looks bad, I’m suing myself, right? So I don’t know. But that was a lawsuit that was very strong, very powerful.”

Considering that the decision to give Trump nearly a quarter of a billion dollars will fall in the hands of his own appointees and allies, it’s no wonder the Times called the demand “the starkest example yet of potential ethical conflicts” in the White House.

After the Times story broke, a reporter asked the president about it and he seemed to admit it was true, albeit in a roundabout way.

“Well, I guess they probably owe me a lot of money for that,” Trump replied. “Probably, yeah, that’s true. That’s very interesting. No, I get no salary. I gave up my salary. It’s a good salary.”

Trump said that if he does get the cash, he’ll “do something nice with it, like give it to charity or give it to the White House, where we restore the White House. And we’re doing a great job in the White House. As you know, the ballroom is under construction.”

Naturally, the potential payout was heavily condemned by the president’s critics on social media.