President Donald Trump has settled a $100 million lawsuit against his niece, Mary Trump, related to her leaking of confidential information to The New York Times during an investigation into his tax filings. Attorneys for both parties announced in a joint letter that they expect to dismiss the case with prejudice in the coming weeks. If dismissed as requested, Trump would be unable to pursue further legal action against his niece regarding this matter.
Trump initially filed the lawsuit in September 2021, claiming that Mary Trump, The New York Times, and several journalists were involved in an 'insidious plot' motivated by personal vendetta. A New York Supreme Court justice dismissed the lawsuit against The New York Times and its journalists in 2023, asserting that their actions were protected under the First Amendment. The reporters received a Pulitzer Prize in 2019 for their investigation into the Trump family's tax history.
In addition to this lawsuit, Trump has pursued other legal actions against individuals and entities that have leaked his financial records, including a $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department, which he later dropped in exchange for the establishment of a controversial fund aimed at compensating individuals investigated by the federal government. A federal judge recently blocked this fund, stating that verbal assurances from the Justice Department did not guarantee its cancellation.