WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lawyers for Donald Trump asked a court to pause his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service for 90 days to negotiate a resolution with the Department of Justice, according to court filings. The filings indicate Trump's legal team is seeking a settlement in the case, which names the IRS and the Treasury Department as defendants.

Trump filed the lawsuit in late January 2026, arguing that he, his businesses, and his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. had suffered irreparable harm from leaks of his tax returns. The complaint calculates its $10 billion in damages by tallying media references to the leaked returns, and contends that Trump did not discover the violations until January 29, 2024. The case is subject to a two-year statute of limitations. Trump said any settlement amount would be donated to charity.

The lawsuit stems from the actions of Charles "Chaz" Littlejohn, who was re-hired in 2017 as a contractor through the government consulting firm Booz Allen. While working on IRS files, Littlejohn stole copies of Trump's tax returns and released them to the media. He was sentenced to five years in prison in 2024. Privacy law protects taxpayer information from being released by the IRS without explicit permission.

In 2020, The New York Times released a series of articles showing Trump paid no income taxes in ten of the fifteen preceding years. In the other years covered, he paid relatively small sums, such as $750, because he reported more losses than gains. A news outlet also ran stories based on the leaked returns highlighting inconsistencies and low tax payments. Every president since Richard Nixon released their tax returns until Trump, who claimed he could not release his because of ongoing audits.

On February 5, Democracy Forward filed an amicus brief urging the court to prevent an abuse of power in the lawsuit. "To treat this case like business as usual would threaten the integrity of the justice system and the important taxpayer and privacy protections at the heart of this case," the brief stated.

The IRS lawsuit is one of multiple cases Trump is seeking to settle with his own government. In 2023 and 2024, he filed administrative complaints seeking $230 million in damages tied to federal investigations he considered unfair, including an FBI inquiry into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election and the FBI's raid of his Mar-a-Lago estate after he refused a subpoena to return classified documents.