Daijiworld Media Network - Washington

Washington, May 18: Donald Trump has voluntarily withdrawn his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), according to court filings submitted on Monday.

The lawsuit had been filed earlier this year by Trump, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, along with the Trump Organization, alleging that the IRS and the US Treasury Department failed to prevent the leak of their confidential tax returns during Trump’s first term in office.

The case stemmed from actions by former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn, who leaked Trump’s tax records to media organisations including The New York Times and ProPublica. Littlejohn later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to prison for unlawfully disclosing tax information.

The terms behind the dismissal have not been publicly disclosed, and the White House has not issued an official statement on the matter.

The lawsuit had attracted widespread attention because it involved a sitting US president suing agencies under his own administration, raising legal and ethical concerns over potential conflicts of interest. A federal judge had also questioned whether both sides in the case were genuinely adversarial.

Reports in recent days suggested Trump was considering dropping the suit amid discussions linked to a proposed compensation fund for individuals claiming they were politically targeted during the previous administration.