As legal experts debate whether President Donald Trump should collect hundreds of millions from the Justice Department, even his staunchest cable news supporter is urging him to pump the brakes.
Trump is demanding that the Justice Department pay him about $230 million in damages for criminal charges filed against him between his first and second terms.
The first complaint was filed in late 2023 for various alleged violations, including investigations into his 2016 campaign regarding his ties to the Russian government. The second complaint, filed in 2024, centered on the FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago property and accusations of possessing classified documents, according to the New York Times. The complaints were filed as part of an internal administrative procedure, a precursor to legal action.
Trump told reporters Tuesday that he had been “very badly damaged” and would direct any payments to charity. “I’m the one who makes the decision and that decision should go through my office and it’s terribly strange to make a decision where I’m paying myself,” he said.
But conservative CNN pundit Scott Jennings told “NewsNight” host Abby Phillip that Trump should perhaps wait until his term ends before attempting to seek any relief, acknowledging that the situation is “unprecedented.”
“My personal advice, if asked, would be that you should file this document until you leave office,” he said. “The process started before you took office, then you won an election and you… look, I think he may have been wronged and he’s entitled to the process. If it were me and I was advising him, I would just say you could table it and postpone it until you leave office.”
The White House did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Jennings has developed a reputation for wholeheartedly supporting Trump and the Republican Party, even as his views inflame the panelists he sits alongside. Even on Monday, his defense of Trump by posting an AI-generated video showing him deploying feces on “No Kings” protesters was “pretty funny.” (His Democratic co-panelist, Karen Finney, said it was “absolutely disgusting.”)
Separately, Trump’s White House ballroom, for which he demolished part of the East Wing to build, would cost around $250 million.
