Trump Settles $10 Billion Suit Against His Own Government In Exchange For Pledge It Will Never Examine His Taxes Again, Resolving Long-Standing Concern That A Sitting President Remained Subject To Audit

WASHINGTON. The United States government agreed this week to permanently drop all tax claims against President Donald Trump, posting a one-page document to the Justice Department website declaring itself "forever barred and precluded" from examining or prosecuting the president, his sons, or the Trump Organization over their current tax issues. The filing resolves Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns, an outcome officials characterized as the routine conclusion of ordinary litigation between a man and the government he runs.

Under the terms, the president will never again be subject to the federal audit process he spent years publicly insisting he welcomed and was only prevented from sharing because it remained ongoing. The government further agreed to issue Trump a formal apology. Per the settlement, Trump "will not receive any monetary payment or damages of any kind," a sacrifice administration officials noted he made willingly in the interest of accountability.

The settlement arrived one day after the Justice Department announced the creation of the "Anti-Weaponization Fund," a pool of $1.776 billion in public money set aside to compensate Americans who believe they were unjustly investigated or prosecuted, particularly by the previous administration. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche described the fund as "a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress," and, when pressed by lawmakers, declined to rule out the possibility that people who committed violence at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, could apply for payouts.

"This is about reimbursing people who were horribly treated," Trump told reporters at the White House, referring to a category of victims whose membership the Justice Department would determine on a case-by-case basis. Officials confirmed that applicants need only assert that their prosecution was politically motivated, and that the fund would be administered by the same department that brings federal prosecutions.

Democratic lawmakers and ethics watchdogs described the arrangement as a slush fund, noting that it allows the president to drain $1.776 billion from the Treasury to reward allies while simultaneously placing his own finances permanently beyond the reach of the agency he sued. "Not only is this another heinously corrupt act by the most corrupt administration in history, it's clearly a violation of the law that prohibits interference by executive branch officials in IRS audits," said Sen. Ron Wyden, who vowed to fight every element of what he called a self-dealing settlement.

At press time, the Justice Department had begun processing the first wave of applications to the Anti-Weaponization Fund, all of which had been submitted by individuals the president had personally encouraged to apply.