U.S. federal agents were searching for documents related to nuclear weapons when they raided former President Donald Trump's Florida home this week, the Washington Post reported Thursday.

The U.S. Justice Department asked a judge on Thursday to make public the warrant that authorized the FBI search at Mar-a-Lago after Trump, a Republican, portrayed it as political retribution.

The request means that the public could soon learn more about what investigators were looking for during the unprecedented search of a former president's home.

The search was part of an investigation into whether Trump illegally removed White House records when he left office in January 2021, some of which the Justice Department considers classified.

Attorney General Merrick Garland, the top law enforcement officer and appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden, said at a press conference that he had personally approved the search. The Justice Department is also seeking to make public a redacted receipt for the seized items.

"The department does not make such a decision lightly. Where possible, it is standard practice to seek less intrusive means as an alternative to a search, and to limit the scope of any search that is conducted," Garland said.

His decision to publicly confirm the search was highly unusual. US law enforcement officials usually do not discuss ongoing investigations in order to protect people's rights. In this case, Trump himself announced the search in a statement Monday night.

Garland said that the Justice Department made the request to make the warrant public "in light of the public confirmation of the search for the former president, the surrounding circumstances, and the substantial public interest in this matter."

A source familiar with the matter said that the FBI recovered about 10 boxes from Trump's property during the search.

Trump was not in Florida at the time of the search.

Late Thursday, Trump called for the immediate release of documents related to the search.

"Not only did I not oppose the immediate release of documents related to the unnecessary raid and invasion of my Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago home, but I will take it a step further by encouraging the immediate release of these documents, even though they were prepared by radical leftist Democrats and possible future political opponents, who have a strong and powerful interest in attacking me, as they have for the past six years," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

The case is before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who reviewed the warrant to ensure that the Justice Department had sufficient probable cause for the search.

In seeking to unseal the warrant, the Justice Department did not ask the judge to unseal the affidavit in support of the warrant, the contents of which could potentially include classified information.

Two of Trump's lawyers, Evan Corcoran and John Rowley, did not respond to a request for comment.

In an earlier statement on his Truth Social network, Trump said, "My lawyers and representatives were cooperating fully, and very good relations had been established. The government could have had whatever they wanted, if we had had it." (Reuters)