Trump’s claims against the government
Trump sought about $230 million from the Justice Department over the investigations of him, and as president he sued the IRS for $10 billion. The May 2026 settlement paid him nothing, dropped the government’s tax claims against him, his sons and his company, and announced a $1.776 billion fund for other people who say they were targeted. A federal judge blocked the fund, and in July 2026 the judge in his IRS case barred both sides from using the settlement.
- Launched
- 2023 (first claim to the Justice Department)
- Owned by
- Donald Trump; the settlement also covers his sons and the Trump Organization
On Who He Hired: Donald Trump, Todd Blanche
What the labels mean
- ConvictedA criminal jury found them guilty, or they pleaded guilty and were sentenced.
- Found liableA civil jury ruled against them.
- Court ruledA judge ruled against them or their policy.
- Watchdog foundAn inspector general, a congressional investigation, Congress’s auditors at the GAO, or a regulator.
- AdmittedThey acknowledged it, or their own filings and records show it.
- On recordSomething they said or did in public.
- ReportedNews reporting they deny or haven’t confirmed.
- AllegedAccusations from lawsuits, complaints or unnamed sources that haven’t been proven.
Admitted or on record 3
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On record
Trump sought about $230 million from his own Justice Department over the investigations of him, saying “they probably owe me a lot of money.”
NBC and Reuters, citing the New York Times, reported that Trump filed two administrative claims: one in 2023 over the Russia investigation and one in 2024 over the classified-documents investigation. The officials who would decide the claims, the deputy and associate attorneys general, had served on Trump’s criminal defense team or represented his co-defendant. Trump said “any money that I would get I would give to charity.” The Justice Department had “no comment on the status of claims,” and spokesman Chad Gilmartin said its officials “follow the guidance of career ethics officials.”
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Admitted
Trump settled his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS for no money, and the government dropped its tax claims against him, his sons and his company.
Trump sued in his personal capacity in Miami federal court in January 2026 over a government contractor’s leak of his tax returns. Under an agreement posted May 19, the U.S. is “forever barred and precluded” from examining or prosecuting current tax issues of Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization, and they get a formal apology. The ethics watchdog CREW called it “the most brazen act of self-dealing in the history of the presidency.” Trump’s legal team said he “is entering into this settlement squarely for the benefit of the American people.” On July 13, 2026, Judge Kathleen Williams found that the plaintiffs had acted in bad faith, wrote that “this lawsuit was not brought to vindicate rights,” barred Trump and the government from using the settlement agreement in any official proceeding, and referred Trump’s lawyers for possible discipline. Trump’s legal team said he “continues to hold those who wrong America and Americans accountable.”
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Admitted
In the same settlement, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche directed the creation of a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to pay other people who say they were targeted.
Trump dropped his roughly $230 million in Justice Department claims as part of the deal. Judge Kathleen Williams wrote that it was unclear whether the two sides were “sufficiently adverse to each other” and ordered a hearing; Trump’s lawyers said the dismissal needed no judge’s sign-off. Blanche: “The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American.” A federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia temporarily blocked the fund in late May 2026 after a lawsuit from Democracy Forward and others, and the Justice Department said it would abide by the ruling. Blanche told a House subcommittee in June that the administration was retreating from the fund.