“Egregious”: Even Trump fans aghast at his demand for $230 million in “taxpayer dollars”

Conservative voices are pushing back against President Donald Trump‘s demands for the Department of Justice to pay $230 million in compensation for prior investigations into him.

On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that Trump is seeking the payout, which stems from investigations that he claims “damaged” him “very greatly,” acknowledging that he would be “paying myself.”

“I’m the one that makes the decision and that decision would have to go across my desk,” Trump said. 

Scott Jennings, a conservative pundit on CNN and a longtime political strategist, called the demand by Trump “an unprecedented situation,” and advised the president to pursue the case when he is out of office.

“My personal advice, if he asked me, would be, you having to table this until you leave office,” Jennings said on CNN’s “News Night” on Monday. “I think he maybe was damaged and he’s entitled to the process. If it were me and I were advising him, I would just say you could table it and put it off until you leave office.”   

Phillip: He said: I might be the one to decide whether I get paid a quarter of $1 billion.

Jennings: My personal advice would be to have him table this until he leaves office. pic.twitter.com/sGRfICV12w

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 22, 2025

David Urban, a former senior adviser to Trump in his 2016 campaign, called the cases against Trump “egregious” while also criticizing the demand for a payout of “taxpayer money.”

“This is taxpayer dollars, right? If the president wants to get an apology from the Department of Justice or from somebody for doing him wrong, one thing,” Urban said on CNN’s The Arena on Monday. “For John Q. Public to come out of their checkbook to pay him money, it’s not like Donald Trump’s brand has been hurt by that, right?” 

“Taxpayers paying that is not something you want to see,” Urban added.

Trump previously filed lawsuits asking for damages from the FBI for purported violations of his rights during investigations into his 2016 campaign’s ties to Russia, and from a 2022 raid on Mar-a-Lago in search of classified documents.