WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has filed a sweeping $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the U.S. Treasury Department, alleging the federal government failed to protect his confidential tax records, allowing them to be illegally accessed and leaked to the media.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Miami, names the IRS and Treasury as defendants and includes Trump’s sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, as well as the Trump Organization, as plaintiffs. The case revives a long-running controversy over the disclosure of Trump’s tax returns — documents he resisted releasing publicly for years before portions were exposed through criminal misconduct by a government contractor.
What the lawsuit alleges
According to the complaint, the IRS and Treasury “willfully, recklessly, or negligently” failed to safeguard Trump’s tax information, violating federal laws that strictly protect taxpayer privacy.
Trump’s legal team argues that the agencies allowed unauthorized access to highly sensitive data, which was later leaked to journalists and published by major news outlets. The plaintiffs claim the disclosures caused severe reputational harm, financial losses, emotional distress, and political damage, justifying the multibillion-dollar demand.
The lawsuit seeks at least $10 billion in damages, a figure Trump’s attorneys say reflects the extraordinary scale of the breach and the prominence of the individuals affected.
The leak at the center of the case
The case stems from a massive tax data breach uncovered in recent years involving Charles Edward Littlejohn, a former IRS contractor who also worked for consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton.
Littlejohn pleaded guilty in 2023 to stealing tax return information belonging to thousands of wealthy Americans, including Trump, and leaking it to media organizations such as ProPublica and The New York Times. In 2024, he was sentenced to five years in federal prison.
Federal prosecutors described the breach as one of the largest unauthorized disclosures of tax data in U.S. history, exposing information protected by some of the nation’s strongest privacy laws.
Why Trump says the government is responsible
While the leaker was prosecuted, Trump’s lawsuit focuses on the government’s responsibility, arguing that the IRS and Treasury failed at multiple levels:
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Allowing broad access to sensitive taxpayer databases
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Failing to monitor or restrict contractor activity
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Neglecting internal safeguards designed to prevent mass data extraction
Trump’s attorneys argue that under federal law, the government can be held liable when agencies fail to protect confidential tax information — even when the immediate wrongdoing is committed by an individual employee or contractor.
An unusual legal clash
Legal experts note that the lawsuit is highly unusual, as it pits a sitting president — acting in a personal and business capacity — against federal agencies that operate within the executive branch he oversees.
“This is not a routine privacy case,” said one former Treasury official familiar with tax enforcement, who was not authorized to speak publicly. “It raises complex questions about sovereign immunity, agency liability, and how damages are calculated when the plaintiff is a public figure.”
The government is expected to argue that existing law limits the damages taxpayers can recover and that criminal prosecution of the leaker already addressed the wrongdoing.
Political and public fallout
The leaked tax records fueled years of political debate, revealing that Trump paid little or no federal income tax in certain years while reporting significant business losses. Trump has long argued the reports were misleading and failed to account for legal deductions and business practices common among real estate developers.
In the lawsuit, Trump claims the disclosures were weaponized politically and damaged his public image, business relationships, and negotiating leverage — harms his attorneys say cannot be undone.
What happens next
As of now, the IRS and Treasury Department have declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation. The Justice Department is expected to represent the agencies and may seek to dismiss or significantly narrow the case.
Legal analysts say the lawsuit could take years to resolve and may test the limits of federal accountability for data breaches involving taxpayer information.
Why the case matters
Beyond Trump, the case underscores broader concerns about data security inside the federal government, particularly as agencies rely heavily on private contractors with access to sensitive systems.
If Trump succeeds — even partially — the lawsuit could open the door to larger claims by other taxpayers whose data was compromised in the same breach, potentially reshaping how the government handles contractor oversight and taxpayer privacy protections.
