Donald Trump says FBI agents raided his Mar-a-Lago Florida home

Donald Trump has said his Florida home was raided by the FBI, in a dramatic escalation of the legal investigations into the former US president.

In a lengthy statement, Trump says a "large group" of FBI agents were at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach and had broken open a safe.

The search is reportedly linked to an investigation into his handling of classified and sensitive material.

The FBI and the Department of Justice have not yet commented.

Some reports suggest the FBI activity - which Trump described as an "unannounced raid" - was connected to an investigation into whether the former president removed classified records and sensitive material from the White House and took them to Mar-a-Lago.

Eric Trump, the president's second-oldest son, told Fox News that it was related to an investigation into the handling of National Archives records that were taken to the Florida residence after his father left office.

US presidents are required by the Presidential Records Act to transfer all of their documents and emails to the NA.

The government agency said in February that it had retrieved 15 boxes of papers from Mar-a-Lago, which Trump should have turned over when he left the White House. It later told Congress the boxes included items marked as classified national security information and asked the Justice Department to investigate.

Trump at the time rejected reports that he had mishandled official records as "fake news".

[Source: BBC]