The U.S. President Donald Trump is set to receive back the classified documents that were seized from him during the FBI raid at his Mar-a-Lago residence in 2022.
According to CNN, along with these materials, the former president will also get back personal items, including clothing, gifts, newspaper clippings, and photographs of singer Celine Dion.
Although Trump faced accusations of unlawful retention of classified documents after his presidential term ended, his return to the White House grants him the right to once again control the government’s classified materials.
The Case Regarding Classified Documents
In August 2022, the FBI conducted a search of Trump's estate as part of an investigation into the handling of government materials he took from the White House after his term ended. During the search, 300 documents containing classified information were discovered, including materials from the CIA, the Department of Defense, the National Security Agency, the State Department, and the Department of Energy.
Since the documents pertained to U.S. defense capabilities as well as the nuclear program, Trump was not authorized to retain them. In June 2023, a grand jury indicted him on 38 counts, stating that he not only unlawfully retained documents but also showed them to unauthorized individuals on two occasions. However, the case was dismissed in July 2024.