Richard Rubin, Trump’s Deal With His Administration Also Ends His Tax Audits (Wall Street Journal, May 19, 2026)

President Trump’s extraordinary agreement with the federal government expanded Tuesday to end all pending tax audits of him and his businesses, according to a document posted by the Justice Department.

In the document, signed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the government said it would be “FOREVER BARRED and PRECLUDED” from pursuing certain claims against Trump, his businesses and family members. The agreement specifically blocks the government from taking any action regarding tax returns that already have been filed. 

That agreement extends the settlement announced Monday, in which the government agreed to create a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who claim to have been victims of so-called weaponization by the government, a move that could lead to payouts to Trump allies.

Trump, in exchange, withdrew a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns by an IRS contractor and ended administrative claims related to other investigations. The government had valid defenses against the IRS lawsuit but never defended it; in other similar cases, the government has argued that the fact that a contractor made such disclosures meant that the U.S. couldn’t be sued.

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