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It would more than double his net worth, if he wins.
The long-running dispute over the privacy of presidential tax records has taken a new legal turn.
A case rooted in events from Trump’s first term is now back before a federal court.
The lawsuit revisits how sensitive financial information reached journalists and what safeguards failed behind the scenes. It also raises questions about accountability inside the U.S. government.
Filed this week, the action places the former and current president in direct conflict with parts of the federal bureaucracy he oversees.
A rare legal clash
According to Reuters, AP and NBC News, U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday sued the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department, seeking $10 billion in damages over the disclosure of his tax information to news organizations in 2019 and 2020, according to court filings.
In a complaint lodged in Miami federal court, Trump, his adult sons and the Trump Organization said the agencies failed to take “mandatory precautions” to stop a contractor from leaking their returns to what the filing described as “leftist media outlets,” including the New York Times and ProPublica.
The plaintiffs said the disclosures caused “significant and irreparable harm” to their reputations and finances, and argued the conduct was either intentional or the result of gross negligence. They said punitive damages could later be sought.
The lawsuit is unusual because it targets agencies within the executive branch, which Trump currently leads. The IRS operates under the Treasury Department.
Claims and consequences
The complaint said reporting based on the leaked records was extensive, alleging the New York Times published at least eight stories and ProPublica produced at least 50 articles using the material.
Those reports, the plaintiffs said, “caused plaintiffs reputational and financial harm, public embarrassment, unfairly tarnished their business reputations, portrayed them in a false light and negatively affected President Trump, and the other plaintiffs’ public standing.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is also serving as acting IRS commissioner, is not named as a defendant. The IRS and Treasury Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours.
The case follows the criminal prosecution of Charles Littlejohn, a former IRS contractor. Prosecutors charged him in September 2023 with leaking tax records belonging to Trump and thousands of other wealthy Americans, alleging he acted out of a political agenda. Littlejohn pleaded guilty a month later and was sentenced in January 2024 to five years in prison.
In September 2025, Forbes estimated the president’s net worth to be $7.3 billion up from $3.9 billion the year before, meaning the president’s net worth would more than double, if he wins the lawsuit.
Sources: Reuters, AP, NBC News, Forbes
