President Donald Trump struggled through a press conference Tuesday after being asked about a New York Times report that he’s seeking $239 million in compensation from the Department of Justice—an effort tied to federal investigations launched during the Biden administration.
The Times revealed earlier that Trump filed two formal complaints in 2023 and 2024 demanding damages for what he claims were violations of his rights. But when confronted with the report, the 79-year-old president delivered a meandering and at times bizarre response that only deepened the confusion.
“Are you asking the Justice Department to look into the federal investigations into you and look for compensation, and how much are you asking for?” a reporter asked him during a press briefing in the Oval Office.
Trump’s immediate reply: “Um, who is asking for what?”
After the reporter repeated the question, he still appeared unsure of what was being asked.
“Whose compensation? Whose compensation? I don’t get any compensation; I do it for nothing. I gave up my salary,” Trump said, referencing a point he’s made repeatedly over the years—though it had nothing to do with the question at hand.
As the exchange dragged on, Trump eventually circled back to the lawsuit—sort of.
“I guess they probably owe me a lot of money for that,” he said. “As far as the litigation and everything that’s been involved, yeah, they probably owe me a lot of money, but if I get money from our country, I’ll do something nice with it, like give it to charity or give it to the White House while we restore the White House.”
Notably, Trump has been pushing forward with expensive and controversial renovations to the White House, including the construction of a $250 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom in the East Wing. Photos released Monday show construction crews already on site, demolishing parts of the building to make way for the new addition.
While the lawsuits were filed during Biden’s presidency, Trump now sits atop a Justice Department filled with loyalists, including Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche—his former defense attorney. That detail is raising serious ethical concerns about whether Trump is essentially using the DOJ to settle a score—and pay himself in the process.
Trump’s apparent confusion on Tuesday didn’t align with what he said just last week, when he told reporters: “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.”
So while Trump publicly acted like he didn’t know what lawsuit the press was asking about, he’s clearly been thinking about it—and how much he should be paid.
At this point, it’s not just about whether Trump is owed money. It’s about whether the president of the United States is now steering the Justice Department toward paying him, personally, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, under the guise of “restoring the White House.”
Watch the NBC News report below:
