Trump has long kept his tax returns shielded from public scrutiny, and he has attributed that approach to ongoing Internal Revenue Service audits. In comments to reporters Wednesday, the president linked a potential change to a new legal resolution: he said his legal team forged a deal with the Justice Department this week that includes permanently dropping tax claims against him, his family, and associates.
Trump told reporters, “I may even release my current returns.” The Associated Press reported that the White House referred the outlet to Trump’s remarks when asked when any returns might become available.
The Justice Department said in connection with the settlement that the government is “forever barred and precluded” from pursuing or prosecuting current tax examinations of Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization. The Justice Department also said the settlement relates to existing audits and does not extend to future examinations.
The deal was reached in the context of Trump’s lawsuit seeking damages and relief tied to an alleged leak of his tax returns. The Justice Department said the settlement was intended to resolve Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS.
As part of the same settlement package, the Justice Department announced the creation of a $1.776 billion fund to compensate Trump allies who said they were unjustly investigated and prosecuted. Democrats and government watchdogs, according to the Associated Press, criticized the arrangement as “corrupt” and unconstitutional.
Trump’s comments raised the question of whether he would follow through on a longstanding promise to release his returns once they were no longer under audit. The Associated Press noted that Trump has made similar assurances before and then did not release the tax records.
The pattern of public statements dates back to when Trump was in political office and campaigning, the Associated Press reported. The story said that in May 2017, Trump told interviewers he “might” release his tax returns after stepping down as president, and that during his first presidential campaign he committed to releasing his tax returns once they were not under audit.
The Associated Press also said that after Trump left office, Democrats in Congress released thousands of pages of his tax returns covering 2015 through 2020. Those documents, the story said, showed how Trump used the tax code to lower his tax obligation and included details about foreign accounts, charitable contributions and the performance of some of his business ventures.
In this latest development, the Justice Department’s stated limits on current tax examinations would remove one asserted reason Trump has given for withholding his returns. The public outcome, however, depends on whether Trump follows through on his Wednesday suggestion to release his current returns.
Sources: Associated Press (Fatima Hussein). Internal revenue matters, Justice Department settlement language, and Trump’s remarks are as described in that report.