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| - It is true that the judge supervising the case pointed out that while Trump is suing the IRS in a personal capacity, he leads the agency in an official capacity. As such, she has asked both his lawyers and the Department of Justice to file memorandums demonstrating whether there is enough opposition between the two parties to warrant a lawsuit. Further, a report from The New York Times (unconfirmed by Snopes) said the DOJ, another agency Trump leads, was considering settling the lawsuit, raising more concerns of a conflict of interest. However …
… The judge has yet to rule on this matter. It is not accurate to say Trump was suing himself. He was suing a government agency.
In May 2026, more than three months after U.S. President Donald Trump and his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. sued the Internal Revenue Service for $10 billion over a 2019 tax document leak, a rumor spread saying Trump was both plaintiff and defendant in this lawsuit.
An X post made the claim in an image with black and red text. "Trump was both the plaintiff and the defendant," the image read (archived):
Other posts on Facebook and Reddit amplified the claim, and Snopes readers searched the website and emailed, seeking to verify whether the story was true.
The rumor stemmed from a monologue by left-leaning political commentator Chris Hayes on May 13, 2026, on MS NOW (formerly MSNBC):
Hayes said at the 0:15 mark in the video (emphasis ours):
I ask you tonight to pay attention to the one that he appears to be about to pull off, because it's got to be the greatest heist in American history. A direct transfer of billions of your taxpayer dollars directly into the bank account and the pockets of Donald Trump, all dressed up as a settlement of a lawsuit in which Donald Trump is both the plaintiff and also the defendant.
Hayes went on to cite a New York Times report, unconfirmed by Snopes, that the Department of Justice, which represents the IRS, was seeking to settle the $10 billion lawsuit Trump and his sons filed in January 2026 against the agency.
On one hand, it's inaccurate to say Trump is both plaintiff and defendant in this lawsuit, as the IRS is a federal agency. But while Trump and his sons sued the IRS in a personal capacity, both the IRS and the DOJ are agencies Trump leads in an official capacity. In fact, the judge overseeing the case asked both Trump's lawyers and the DOJ to show there was enough opposition between the two parties (Trump as a private citizen and Trump as the head of the government) to warrant a lawsuit. The judge has yet to rule on this matter.
In addition, Todd Blanche, who became acting head of the DOJ in April 2026, defended Trump in several criminal cases. As such, the reported decision to settle the case against the IRS could raise more questions of conflict of interest.
For these reasons, we rated the claim a mixture of true and false information.
We reached out to the DOJ to inquire about the claim in the Times' report and we will update this report should it respond.
The details
On Jan. 29, 2026, Trump and his two older sons filed a lawsuit against the IRS seeking $10 billion following a 2019 leak of tax documents by a former IRS contractor to the The New York Times and ProPublica (the contractor, Charles Littlejohn, was sentenced to five years in prison in 2024). In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs argued that the IRS should have done more to prevent the leak.
However, the judge overseeing the case, Kathleen Williams, noted in an April 24, 2026, order that "although President Trump avers that he is bringing this lawsuit in his personal capacity, he is the sitting president and his named adversaries are entities whose decisions are subject to his direction."
In other words, Williams pointed out that while Trump sued the IRS personally, he also oversees the IRS in an official capacity. As such, she questioned whether the IRS could sufficiently defend the interests of the government in this lawsuit. In the order, she asked Trump's lawyers and the DOJ, which represents the IRS in this lawsuit, to show how Trump and his own government are adversaries in this case by May 20, 2026 (emphasis ours):
Accordingly, it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that, by May 20, 2026, the Parties shall each file a memorandum of law that addresses the issue of whether a case and controversy exists in this matter so as to establish the Court's jurisdiction. The Court SETS a hearing for 10:00 A.M. on May 27, 2026. The Parties should come prepared to discuss the issues identified above.
This was where the case stood as of this writing. But on May 12, 2026, the Times reported that the DOJ, which Trump also oversees, was considering settling the case before the May 20 deadline set by the judge. The Times said the move would be his "most brazen effort to bend the government to his personal will — an agenda often carried out through the Justice Department." Because the Times cited anonymous sources in its reporting, we were not able to independently confirm its accuracy.
We have reached out to the DOJ seeking more details about their alleged plan to settle.
According to a post by law firm Weiner Law in New Jersey, it is possible for federal courts to reject settlement agreements if the agreement does not comply with the law. We have reached out to the firm asking for an expert opinion on whether Williams could reject such a settlement and we will update this report should we receive a reply.
For further reading, Snopes covered a lawsuit that accused Trump, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Microsoft founder Bill Gates of sex trafficking.
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