The U.S. Department of Justice has granted U.S. President Donald Trump, his family, and his businesses immunity from ongoing investigations into their taxes, a potentially lucrative deal that could shield the president from significant financial liability, The New York Times reports, according to UNN.
Details
The provision, quietly introduced Tuesday as an addendum to a landmark agreement that also established a $1.8 billion fund aimed at supporting Trump's allies, protects the U.S. president, his relatives, and his businesses from future audits and tax prosecutions.
The one-page document, signed by Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, states that the government will be "permanently barred and precluded from pursuing or initiating" tax cases against Trump, his family members, and businesses.
The provision immediately drew criticism, while tax experts spoke out about its potential illegality.
"The fact that the addendum to the agreement was posted without fanfare on the department's website belied its ruthless audacity," the publication points out. "It demonstrated the determination of Trump and his appointees to implement maximalist measures with minimal outside scrutiny at a moment when they still have unquestioned control over the government," the publication notes.
"The provision was the latest in a series of maneuvers this week that blurred the nearly vanished line between the official business of the department and the private interests of a U.S. president intent on using his power to extract financial gain from the federal government for himself and his allies," the NYT publication reads.
A day earlier, Trump agreed to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in exchange for the creation of a fund for people he believes were wronged by federal investigations or prosecutions.
U.S. Department of Justice officials reportedly defended the creation of the fund in part by pointing to the fact that Trump and his family members would not receive compensation from it.
"But protection from audits could be quite financially beneficial for Trump, who has always maintained that there were no irregularities in his tax returns," the publication notes. In 2024, The New York Times reported that "losses resulting from an IRS audit could cost Trump more than $100 million."