Trump says he may release tax returns after Justice Department deal

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President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he may release his current tax returns after a legal agreement with the Justice Department that, according to the settlement terms described by the government, would end the government’s ability to pursue certain tax examinations tied to an ongoing matter involving Trump finances.

Trump, who has long kept his past tax returns shielded from public scrutiny, told reporters, “I may even release my current returns,” after his legal team forged a deal with the Justice Department this week. If he follows through, it would end years of speculation about how much the Republican president owes the federal government, although Trump has made similar promises before and later did not release the returns.

The Justice Department said the government is “forever barred and precluded” from pursuing or prosecuting current tax examinations of Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization under the settlement. The government also described the settlement as addressing existing audits, rather than future examinations, according to the Justice Department’s characterization of the deal.

The settlement stems from Trump’s broader legal fight over an alleged leak of his tax returns. The Justice Department said the agreement resolves Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over that leak, according to the AP report.

The deal also included additional terms that have drawn criticism. The Justice Department announced a $1.776 billion fund to compensate Trump allies who believe they were unjustly investigated and prosecuted, and Democrats and government watchdogs have called the arrangement “corrupt” and unconstitutional.

Democrats and watchdogs’ objections focus on whether the terms amount to improper treatment of the president and his associates through a settlement. The White House, when asked by The Associated Press when Trump’s returns might become available, referred the outlet to Trump’s own comments.

Trump has said for years that he kept his returns private because of IRS audits. He has also pointed to the possibility that the public would see his returns at some later point once audits ended; in May 2017, he told reporters in an interview that he “might” release his tax returns after stepping down as president, and during his first campaign he said he would release them once they were not under audit.

After Trump left office, Democrats in Congress released thousands of pages of his tax returns for the years covering 2015 through 2020. That disclosure 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 highest-profile business ventures.