The FBI was "playing politics" when it raided Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida earlier this week and didn't need to "seize" anything, the former president said Friday.
Trump also accused former President Barack Obama of taking "33 million pages of documents, many of which are classified" without recourse.
"Number one, it was all declassified," Trump said in a Truth Social post about the documents at his estate.
"Number two, they didn't need to 'seize' anything. They could have had it anytime they wanted without playing politics and breaking into Mar-a-Lago. It was in secured storage, with an additional lock put on as per their request...
"They could have had it anytime they wanted—and that includes LONG ago," he added. "ALL THEY HAD TO DO WAS ASK. The bigger problem is, what are they going to do with the 33 million pages of documents, many of which are classified, that President Obama took to Chicago?"
The National Archives has since responded, refuting Trump's claim about Obama.
A Washington Post report Thursday said the FBI searched Trump's home for classified documents with information about nuclear weapons, a claim the former president said amounted to a "hoax."
"Nuclear weapons issue is a Hoax, just like Russia, Russia, Russia was a Hoax, two Impeachments were a Hoax, the Mueller investigation was a Hoax, and much more. Same sleazy people involved," he said in a statement released Friday.
Trump's lawyer said federal agents took at least a dozen boxes containing sensitive and some "top secret" material from his home.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.