Trump intimidated staffers so they wouldn't challenge the erratic way he treated classified information, Washington Post reports

• Donald Trump would intimidate White House staffers, The Washington Post reported.
• This meant they didn't challenge him over how he handled classified information, the report said.

Former President Donald Trump's aides struggled to challenge his handling of classified documents because he "intimidated" them, The Washington Post reports.

The former president is under FBI investigation for his handling of classified information. Agents raided his Mar-a-Lago resort in August and found troves of documents he had not handed back to them, including highly classified information.

A total of 14 former Trump administration officials told the Post that Trump routinely ignored the protocols for handling classified information while in office, and would take transcripts of calls with foreign leaders, as well as material from intelligence briefings, to his private residence.

Based on the testimony of several of the former aides, the Post reported Trump would "intimidate staffers who might try to take secret intelligence material away from him."

"They didn't challenge him," one former official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

But some senior officials attempted to establish order in the way classified material was handled, according to the report, while aides sought to circumvent what one described as his "sticky fingers" approach to documents.

They would retrieve documents he had torn up in his private residence, tape them together, and returned them to the National Archives, while others made it a habit not to leave classified information lying around in his presence, the report said.

A spokesperson for Trump declined to comment on to the Post on the specifics of but pointed the publication to a past statement from the former president accused the Department of Justice of leaking information to hurt his image.

"President Trump remains committed to defending the Constitution and the Office of the Presidency, ensuring the integrity of America for generations to come," that statement said.