In a wild twist, Donald Trump says he’s fine with his employees footing the bill for his $10 billion lawsuit—as long as it goes somewhere else

President Donald Trump said he would tell officials in his own administration to pay him the $10 billion he is seeking in a lawsuit against the Treasury Department and the IRS. However, he promised that all the money will go to charity. Trump made this admission during an interview with anchor Tom Llamas.

According to Mediaite, the president, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization filed the $10 billion lawsuit last week. The people they are suing work in departments whose leaders report directly to the president. This creates a major conflict of interest.

When Llamas explained the situation, President Trump acknowledged how unusual it is. “Well, there’s never been anything like it, in all fairness,” the president said. Llamas pointed out that Scott Bessent heads the IRS and Pam Bondi runs the Justice Department. Both are the president’s direct subordinates who would be defending the government against their own boss. The anchor asked directly, “So are you gonna tell them to pay you? You’re their boss.”

The president’s own appointees would decide whether to pay him

At first, President Trump tried to change the subject by mentioning other actions he has taken against the government. But Llamas asked again, and that’s when Trump gave his answer. “Well, what I would do, tell them to pay me,” the president said. He quickly added that he would donate all of it. “But I’ll give 100% of the money to charity. I don’t want any of that money.”

Llamas noted that taking the money still means a massive government payout. President Trump disagreed. “No, no, I’m putting it back into the system,” he said. “If I give money to American Cancer Society, I will give 100% of the money away to charity. I don’t want any of it.” The unusual arrangement has raised questions about how the settlement money would flow.

Before the interview, the president already sounded confident about winning. “Essentially, the lawsuit’s been won. I guess I won a lot of money,” President Trump declared. The $10 billion lawsuit is about the unauthorized release of the president’s tax returns in 2019 and 2020. 

Charles Littlejohn, an IRS contractor, leaked those private documents. They showed the president had paid only $750 in federal income taxes in both 2016 and 2017. In some other years, he claimed more losses than income and paid no taxes at all. Littlejohn pleaded guilty and received the maximum sentence of five years in prison in 2024. The legal action stems from what Trump calls public embarrassment caused by the contractor’s actions.

This is not the only time President Trump has sought money from the government while in office. In October, reports said he is seeking another $230 million from the Department of Justice. These claims relate to the FBI’s investigation into possible ties between his 2016 campaign and Russia, and the search warrant executed at his Mar-a-Lago residence in 2022. In those cases, members of his own administration will decide whether the government should pay the massive amounts the president is requesting.