President Donald Trump is seeking a $10 billion payout from the Internal Revenue Service, and can’t imagine why American taxpayers would be bothered by being the ones to foot the bill.
Trump, 79, was asked on Friday about his $10 billion civil suit against the U.S. Treasury and the IRS for not protecting his personal financial information during his first term.
Back then, a former IRS contractor—who is now in prison—accessed Trump’s tax records and leaked them to The New York Times and ProPublica, revealing how little he paid in federal income taxes.
Now, Trump—alongside sons Donald Jr. and Eric Trump and the Trump Organization—are seeking at least $10 billion in damages.
Ultimately, it could be the president’s own Justice Department that has the final say in the case. If successful, American taxpayers would ultimately be the ones to hand over the mammoth settlement. Which Trump doesn’t see as a problem, as he plans to donate it all to charity.
When asked whether it was “fair to ask Americans to pay for that,” Trump suggested it was not a big deal because he plans to give any winnings to charity—and Americans give to charities, too.
“Well, anything I win, I’m going to give 100 percent to charity,” Trump told a reporter on Air Force One.
“But that still takes it from the American people,” the reporter replied.
Trump rejected that notion.
“No, because they give money to charity,” he said, despite that being by choice. “You know, our government gives away $40 billion plus a year to charity, so… Anything I win, I’m giving 100 percent to charity. Really good, very, very good and respected charities,” he said, without naming any specific organizations.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was forced to admit on Thursday that any settlement would come from taxpayers.
“It would come from Treasury,” Bessent told Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego during a Senate hearing.
“Which comes from the general fund?” Gallego followed up.
“The treasury general account,” Bessent acknowledged.
“So, taxpayers,” Gallego pressed.
“Uh, yeah,” Bessent finally replied.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
