As this list grew, it was hard not to wonder whether these payouts would serve as a prelude to Donald Trump becoming the next recipient, in response to his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS.

With this in mind, Liz Dye, a columnist at Above the Law, flagged the IRS’ latest court filing in the case.

BREAKING: IRS confirms it's negotiating with Trump family to pay a "settlement" in the wildly defective lawsuit over the leak of his tax returns.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

— Liz Dye (@lizdye.bsky.social) 2026-04-17T16:39:25.149Z

The filing acknowledged that the process “remains in its early stages,” though it also noted that the agency and the president are engaged in “discussions designed to resolve this matter and to avoid protracted litigation.”

The phrasing suggested settlement talks are underway......

There’s no shortage of questions surrounding the civil case, including the fact that Trump appears to be on both sides of the litigation, suing his own administration in the hope it will hand him a giant check.

Writing for MS NOW, columnist Paul Waldman explained that the president’s litigation was “so brazen, so shameless, so stunning … that it will stand out in history even in a presidential term drowning in self-dealing.” Waldman added, “This latest act deploys Trump’s favorite financial weapon — the bogus lawsuit — but in a way no one even contemplated before.”

Shortly after his lawyers filed the case, the president told reporters that he assumed “nobody would care” if he receives a lucrative payout as part of the frivolous litigation. We may soon find out whether that was true. Watch this space.