A US federal judge has approved former President Donald Trump's request to appoint a third-party arbiter to review documents seized by the FBI from his Florida home.

The district court judge also ruled on Monday that the Justice Department must temporarily halt the use of the seized documents for investigative purposes while the independent "special master" reviews them.

The judge told Trump's legal team and the Justice Department to submit a list of candidates for special master by Friday.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation seized the cache of documents from Trump's residence at Mar-a-Lago in early August. FBI agents say they include classified materials, including those marked top secret.

Trump's lawyers had argued that the documents could include records protected by executive privilege. They have objected to the unusual search of a former president's home as a "witch hunt."

The district court allowed the US intelligence community to continue a separate assessment of the documents' classification and the risk to national security if they are mishandled.