US government seizes over 300 papers from former president Donald Trump

The quantity of classified documents Donald Trump took from the White House has been revealed, on the same day the former president filed a lawsuit against the US government.

More than 300 papers were recovered from Donald Trump after they went missing from the White House. Picture: Ronda Churchill/AFP

A new report has unveiled the staggering number of secret documents Donald Trump took with him when he left the White House last year, which contributed to an FBI raid on his home earlier this month.

The US government has recovered more than 300 papers from the former president, after a number of documents were handed in or retrieved during an authorised search on Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, The New York Times reports.

The paper outlined that there were more than 150 classified papers retrieved by the National Archives in January, followed by a few dozen files handed over by Mr Trump’s aides in early June.

Another 26 boxes were later retrieved from Mr Trump’s home by the FBI in August, 11 of which were marked as classified while an additional set contained top secret information.

While the nature of all 300 documents still remains unclear, a source revealed to The New York Times that the 15 boxes returned to the archives in January consisted of Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency and FBI documents.

It’s alleged that FBI files possessed by Mr Trump also had information on French President Emmanuel Macron, raising a cause for concern.

Additional reports also suggest Mr Trump looked through the contents of some of the 15 boxes before they were returned.

The Justice Department is continuing its investigations into Mr Trump, which could insinuate there may be more missing documents in his possession.

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More than 300 papers were recovered from Donald Trump after they went missing from the White House. Picture: Ronda Churchill/AFP

The announcement comes on the same day Mr Trump filed a lawsuit against the federal government, suing it over the FBI’s raid on his home.

Mr Trump has requested the bureau postpone the reading of the seized materials until an official of the court is assigned to review the documents of interest.

A letter filed to the court also requests that the government return any item that was taken “outside of the scope of the search warrant”.

The request follows allegations made by the former president that the FBI “stole” his passport during the raid.

“Wow! In the raid by the FBI of Mar-a-Lago, they stole my three Passports (one expired), along with everything else,” Mr Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social network on Monday, the New York Post reports.

“This is an assault on a political opponent at a level never seen before in our Country. Third World!”

If Mr Trump is charged under the Espionage Act he could face a fine, or up to ten years in prison for the mishandling of defence information.

A possible conviction could also ruin his chances of running for a second term in 2024.