U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to withdraw his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the 2019 leak of his tax records.
A filing requesting the dismissal was submitted Monday morning in a Miami court. The document, signed by Trump lawyer Alejandro Brito, provided few details beyond the request to end the case. Bloomberg previously reported that U.S. officials had discussed creating a $1.7 billion federal fund to compensate alleged victims of what Trump allies describe as the “weaponization of government” as part of a settlement tied to the lawsuit.
Under the proposed arrangement, Trump himself would not have received direct payments. Instead, compensation could have been made available to individuals claiming they were targeted by authorities during Joe Biden’s presidency. Critics described the idea as a “slush fund” that could be used to reward Trump’s political allies.
Among the potential beneficiaries were roughly 1,500 people prosecuted over the January 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol, when Trump supporters attempted to block the certification of Biden’s election victory.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has repeatedly pushed the boundaries of presidential authority—from imposing tariffs and freezing federal funding to publicly urging the Justice Department to pursue his political opponents. Yet the lawsuit against the IRS and the U.S. Treasury Department, which was also named as a defendant, became one of the most controversial examples of presidential power intersecting with the judicial system.
The case also raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest, given Trump’s continued influence over both the IRS and the Justice Department, which represents the federal government in court.