A US federal court has ordered the revocation of a legal agreement between President Donald Trump and federal agencies, which had allowed Trump and close associates immunity from IRS tax audits and authorized his administration to establish a $1.8 billion "Anti-Weaponisation Fund," which has since been canceled.
US District Judge Kathleen Williams ordered the annulment of a settlement between President Donald Trump and government agencies that had protected Trump from tax audits and allowed the creation of the $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponisation Fund (approximately 63 billion baht), which has now been discontinued.
Originally, the fund was established in May 2026 to compensate individuals claiming unfair government persecution, in exchange for Trump withdrawing a personal $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS.
However, Judge Williams stated in her ruling that the lawsuit filed jointly by Trump, his two sons, and the Trump Organization in 2026 was not a genuine dispute between opposing parties but a scheme orchestrated by lawyers linked to Trump and individuals claiming to be victims of government harassment.
"This case never involved a legal or factual dispute between Trump and the IRS, which Trump controlled as president. Instead, it was an attempt to legitimize an agreement granting immunity to persons and organizations connected to the president and to divert billions of taxpayer dollars to compensate grievances not provided for by law," Judge Williams said.
The case originated when Trump alleged that the government failed to prevent Charles Littlejohn, a former IRS contractor, from leaking his private tax information. This data became the basis for The New York Times investigative reports before the 2020 presidential election revealing Trump paid only $750 in federal income tax in 2016 and none for 10 of the previous 15 years.
Judge Williams noted suspiciously that Trump took no legal action until he returned to the White House and appointed his former personal lawyer and attorneys who would benefit from the fund to senior positions in the Department of Justice.
The judge said, "These officials negotiated on behalf of the US with Trump's current lawyers, including his former White House legal counsel, to reach a settlement. It is absurd to claim the parties were genuinely adversarial in this case."
The ruling also prohibits those involved, including Trump and his sons, from citing this settlement in any future legal proceedings, enabling normal IRS audits of Trump's tax filings to proceed.
Additionally, the court referred Alejandro Brito, one of Trump's lawyers, to the Florida Bar for disciplinary action, while Daniel Epstein, another lawyer, was barred from practicing in the Southern District of Florida for at least one year.
A spokesperson for Trump's legal team told the BBC that the judge found officials with political motives allowed personal and confidential information to leak to the media, emphasizing, "President Trump will continue to hold accountable those who harm America and its people."
Brandon DeBot, policy director at the NYU Tax Law Center, described the agreement as a "sweetheart deal" granting unprecedented exemptions to Trump, undermining the system designed to protect against political interference in tax matters.
"The court's decision is significant but insufficient. Congress must take legal action to fully invalidate this agreement and prevent future presidential self-dealing," he said.
The plan to establish the $1.8 billion fund was abandoned in early June after another judge temporarily halted it following a lawsuit in Virginia by two men who claimed the fund was discriminatory, as they too were victims of political retaliation by the Trump administration but were ineligible for compensation. The fund also faced criticism and concern from some Democrats and Republicans who feared the large sums could be paid to those involved in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot and those accused of assaulting police officers.
. SourceBBC