Donald Trump is suing the federal government for $10 billion — money that would come directly from American taxpayers — because someone leaked his tax returns to journalists six years ago.
Let that sink in: The president wants you to pay him billions because the public found out he didn’t pay federal income taxes for years.
THE LAWSUIT: Trump filed suit Thursday in a Florida federal court against the IRS and Treasury Department — agencies he now controls as president. His sons Eric and Don Jr., along with the Trump Organization, are also plaintiffs.
The complaint claims the leak of Trump’s tax records caused “reputational and financial harm” and “unfairly tarnished their business reputations.”
Here’s the thing: The guy who actually leaked the information, former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn, was already caught, prosecuted, and sentenced to five years in prison. Justice was served. Case closed.
But that’s not enough for Trump. He wants a $10 billion payday on top of it.
THE HYPOCRISY: The lawsuit claims the leaks “adversely impacted President Trump’s support among voters in the 2020 presidential election.”
He’s president again. Seems like he recovered just fine.
And what exactly did those leaks reveal? That Trump paid zero federal income tax for years while working Americans paid their share. The New York Times reported in 2020 that Trump avoided taxes that ordinary people can’t escape. ProPublica followed up with more truly damning details.
Trump’s response wasn’t to explain himself. It was to hide even more. He’s the first president in modern history to refuse to release his tax returns — and now he wants to be rewarded for the public learning what he was hiding.
FOLLOW THE MONEY: If Trump wins this lawsuit, the $10 billion doesn’t come from the IRS commissioner’s personal checking account. It comes from the federal treasury. That’s taxpayer money.
Your money would go directly to a billionaire because journalists told you he wasn’t paying taxes.
Meanwhile, Trump’s Treasury Department just this week cut contracts with Booz Allen Hamilton — the firm Littlejohn worked for. So the administration is already punishing the company. The leaker is already in prison. But Trump still wants his billions.
BOTTOM LINE: This is a shakedown. A sitting president is suing his own government to extract billions from taxpayers because Americans learned the truth about his finances — finances he still refuses to disclose voluntarily.
The audacity is the point.