FBI's Mar-a-Lago raid 'had a big impact on the population': Trump

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - Former President Donald Trump has again denounced the FBI's raid at his home in Florida, saying the action affected the entire US.

"It was a terrible thing. And frankly, that's had a big impact on the population. But that was a terrible thing that they did. Raiding my home was a terrible thing," Trump said in an interview with Indian television channel NDTV on Thursday.

"And I think, it's boomeranged and very negatively on them," he said in a possible reference to those who ordered the raid.

The former president said he was not in Florida when the raid was conducted at his Mar-a-Lago estate and he responded "that's strange" when he was called.

"And it was strange. And it was very strange to the public also, to the American people, because they were not happy with it. And if you look at the result of that, you can see that they were not happy. They're very angry about it," said Trump.

In early August, Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence was searched by the FBI, prompting him to lash out at what he called an unprecedented "assault” and accuse his political opponents of weaponizing the justice system.

According to court documents filed late Tuesday by the Justice Department, more than 100 classified records, including materials marked with the highest level of classification, were recovered from Trump’s residence.

"It's a set up. It's weaponization. And it's inappropriate to do and it's a bad thing for our country. And this is like Russia, Russia, Russia, and the Mueller report and all of the hoaxes that we've had to go through and it's become standard American politics and it's a disgrace," Trump added.

- Remarks on Biden

Trump also took aim at his successor, Joe Biden, accusing the current president of doing "badly" for the US.

Biden called Trump a threat to the US in a recent speech and Trump responded, calling Biden "the enemy of the state."

"I will tell you this. He's done very badly for our country. Our country has never been in a position like this. We're weak in many ways. And we're certainly ... the economy is horrible," said Trump.

"And we've lost our voice and our respect worldwide. You look at Russia, take a look at Russia invading Ukraine, that would have never happened.

"Watch what's going to happen with China. And Taiwan, you take a look at that. Because already those ships are lining up, and that could be next. None of these things would have happened. Inflation wouldn't have happened. We were energy independent," said the former president.

"And now we're begging everybody for energy. We're begging we have blackouts all over our country. We've never had anything like that. So very bad things have happened to this country in two years. Things that are absolutely unthinkable," he added.