Ethan Hawke has sparked fierce debate after he hit out at Donald Trump's lack of integrity for demanding $230 million from the Justice Department. During an appearance on The View on Wednesday, the A-list star, 54, voiced his criticism of the president. Hollywood actor Hawke's comments came after co-host Joy Behar invited him to share his take on Trump's multi-million dollar demand as payback for federal investigations he faced while the Democrats were in charge.

'Let's do a hot topic with you because earlier, we were talking about Trump wanting $230 million from the Department of Justice for investigating him,' Behar, 83, probed. 'He wants that money.' Weighing in, Hawke simply responded: 'Is anybody here old enough to remember when Jimmy Carter gave up his family farm to make sure he didn't have conflict of interest? 'It's called integrity and it's starting to show the lack of it. It's pretty obvious.'

'Starting?' a befuddled Behar quipped. 'Yeah!' Hawke replied. 'I'm being nice.' Hawke, of course, was referring to former president Carter, who put his peanut farm into a blind trust during the presidency. A blind trust allows someone to retain ownership of an asset while transferring management to another person or institution.

Hawke's comments divided viewers at home with some in agreement over Trump's behavior. 'Unfortunately, that ship of integrity has long since sailed,' one said on Reddit. 'Ethan Hawke saying what half of America's been thinking since 2016,' added another on X, formerly Twitter. But others blasted the actor and threatened to boycott his films.

One slammed: 'Opinions from liberal Hollywood are as worthless as those from Democrat politicians. No wonder they like each other so much.' 'Another foolish actor I will never watch again,' said another. A third continued: 'Another day, another pointless celebrity comment.' Earlier this week, it was reported that Trump submitted two administrative complaints seeking damages for a number of actions he claims violated his rights, people familiar with the not-yet-public filings told the New York Times.

Trump didn't deny that he's seeking the settlement but appeared to blank when asked on Tuesday about a potential payout. ‘Well, I guess they probably owe me a lot of money for that,' Trump told reporters when asked if he's seeking money from his own DOJ. The President insisted that if he does get paid, he would 'do something nice with it like give it to charity or give it to the White House,' and bragged about how he hasn't taken the presidential salary ever since his first term.

The demand by Trump — without precedent — represents another potential headache for Attorney General Pam Bondi who the president is pressuring to deliver prosecutions against the political enemies who went after him while in office. Bondi has been at pains to show that her prosecutorial integrity has not been called into question by Trump's very public demands, which included a private text message to her, which he mistakenly posted online: 'JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!' When asked about potential conflicts of interest regarding Trump's monetary demands, a spokesman told the Daily Mail that 'all officials at the Department of Justice follow the guidance of career ethics officials.'