Donald Trump has initiated another massive lawsuit seeking billions in damages. Donald Trump, along with his eldest son Donald Trump Jr., his second son Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization, filed a civil lawsuit on January 29, 2026 (local time) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Trump is demanding at least $100 billion in compensation from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Treasury Department.
Between 2019 and 2020, an IRS contractor named Charles Littlejohn illegally leaked years of federal tax records related to Trump to media outlets including The New York Times. These records included tax information from 2005 to 2020, as well as business details of the Trump Organization. After obtaining these leaked materials, The New York Times published at least eight articles analyzing Trump's two decades of tax data, summarizing his tax strategies, loss deduction techniques, and tax avoidance behaviors. The New York Times described Trump as a remarkably skilled master of tax avoidance:
Trump paid no federal income taxes for 11 out of the past 18 years; In both 2016 (the year he was first elected president) and 2017 (his first year in office), Trump paid only $750 in federal income taxes; Substantial losses from numerous real estate projects were used to offset his income.
Trump dismissed these reports at the time as "fake news" and claimed the information was "illegally obtained." In 2022, following a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. government legally released Trump's tax data from 2015 to 2020. What was intended to debunk rumors instead further confirmed Trump's status as a master of tax avoidance. The government's legally released documents revealed that, once again, Trump paid $0 in federal taxes for the year 2020. Combining reports from The New York Times and publicly available congressional records, Trump's personal income tax payments from 2010 to 2020 were detailed as follows.
The whistleblower, Littlejohn, who leaked the documents, was charged with criminal offenses in 2023. He admitted to leaking the information to The New York Times and was sentenced to five years in prison in January 2024. In the current lawsuit, President Trump, acting in his personal capacity, accuses the IRS and Treasury Department—agencies under his own administration—of causing reputational damage by failing to prevent the leak.
The defendants' (IRS and Treasury) actions have caused the plaintiffs reputational and financial harm, public humiliation, unjust damage to business reputation, misrepresentation, and negative impacts on the public image of Trump and the other plaintiffs.
At the conclusion of the filing, Trump demands a minimum of $100 billion in damages from the two government departments.
"Pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 7431(c)(1), award Plaintiffs damages for each unauthorized disclosure of their tax return information in an amount equal to the greater of:
$1,000 for *each* unauthorized disclosure (including subsequent disclosures by third parties such as The New York Times, ProPublica, and numerous other print, broadcast, cable, social media, and other platforms), which sum amounts to at least $100,000,000,000.00 ($100 billion), see Diamond article supra; or The actual damages sustained by Plaintiffs and all related entities (including the 418 Trump Organization-affiliated entities that received notices from defendant IRS between December 2024 and May 2025), which sum also amounts to at least $100,000,000,000.00 ($100 billion)."
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this lawsuit against government departments will be defended by the U.S. Department of Justice, which is under Trump's leadership. —It's an internal affair. The aim is to secure a favorable outcome during this presidential term. Yesterday, American media outlet ABC attempted to question the President on this matter. Reporter: Why are you suing the IRS? Trump: Which media outlet are you from? Reporter: ABC News. Trump: You are annoying. Let someone else ask a question. Reporter: Can you answer the question? Trump: ABC is fake news. I didn't call on you.
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