Story highlights "I was very, very surprised to see it," Trump said

On July 26, the FBI raided Manafort's northern Virginia home

Bridgewater, New Jersey (CNN) President Donald Trump said he was "surprised" that the FBI conducted an early morning raid of his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort's home last month.

"You know, they do that very seldom, so I was surprised to see it. I was very, very surprised to see it," Trump said from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, Thursday, according to pool reports. "I thought it was a very, very strong signal, or whatever."

Trump said he has not spoken to the Attorney General Jeff Sessions or the FBI regarding the raid.

"I have not, but to do that early in the morning, whether or not it was appropriate you'd have to ask them," Trump said. "I've always found Paul Manafort to be a very decent man. He's like a lot of other people -- probably makes consultant fees from all over the place. Who knows? I don't know, but I thought it was pretty tough stuff to wake him up, perhaps his family was there."

"I think that's pretty tough stuff," the President added.

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