Trump Sues IRS and Treasury for $10 Billion Over Alleged Tax Leaks

Donald Trump has filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS and US Treasury, accusing them of leaking his tax information between 2018 and 2020. The suit, filed in Florida, includes Trump, his two eldest sons, and The Trump Organization, claiming the leaks caused reputational and financial harm. Former IRS contractor Charles “Chaz” Littlejohn pleaded guilty to the leaks, which revealed Trump paid minimal or no federal income taxes for several years, violating IRS confidentiality laws. The case highlights issues of government responsibility and taxpayer privacy.

President Donald Trump on Thursday initiated a $10 billion (€8.39 billion) lawsuit against the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the US Treasury Department, accusing the agencies of illegally leaking his confidential tax information to various news outlets over a period spanning from 2018 to 2020. The legal action, filed in Florida, names Trump in his personal capacity as well as his two eldest sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., and their family enterprise, The Trump Organization. The lawsuit asserts that both the IRS and the Treasury Department bore a legal responsibility to safeguard and protect the plaintiffs’ confidential tax returns, a duty the plaintiffs claim was grossly neglected, resulting in substantial personal and professional harm.
Trump has argued that the disclosure of his tax records caused severe reputational and financial damage, led to public embarrassment, unfairly harmed their business reputations, and misrepresented them in a false light. According to the lawsuit, the leak also had a detrimental impact on President Trump’s public standing, as well as on the public image of his family members and associated businesses.
Throughout his first term in office, Trump vigorously guarded his tax filings, becoming the only US president in modern history not to release them publicly, despite prior statements that he intended to do so. His decision not to disclose his tax returns was widely covered by national and international media and became a major subject of public discussion and scrutiny, generating intense speculation about his financial affairs and sources of income.
In 2024, the former IRS contractor Charles “Chaz” Edward Littlejohn was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to illegally leaking the president’s tax information to media organizations. The leaked information revealed significant details about Trump’s tax payments and financial practices. Following the disclosure, The New York Times reported in 2020 that Trump, who had consistently declined to make his tax filings public, paid only $750 in federal income tax in both 2016 and 2017 and paid no federal income tax at all for ten of the previous fifteen years, highlighting the extent of his tax avoidance.
The leaks constituted a violation of IRS Code 6103, which is widely recognized as one of the most stringent confidentiality laws in federal statute. According to prosecutors, Littlejohn provided Trump’s tax information to The New York Times and ProPublica between 2018 and 2020. The scope and nature of the leaks were described as “unparalleled in the IRS’s history,” underscoring the severity of the breach of confidentiality and the unprecedented nature of the case.
The lawsuit seeks to hold the IRS and Treasury Department accountable for the alleged misconduct and demands $10 billion in damages, reflecting the plaintiffs’ claim of the significant personal, financial, and reputational consequences suffered as a result of the leaks. The legal action underscores ongoing concerns about governmental responsibility, privacy, and the protection of sensitive taxpayer information, and it highlights a major confrontation between a former president and key federal agencies tasked with ensuring compliance and confidentiality in the tax system.