Greatest heist in American history, happening right now

How we stop the President from silently looting $10 billion from the U.S. Treasury, transferring your tax dollars to his personal piggy bank.

While this image is a dramatization, the issues depicted are all too real.

We are currently witnessing what might be the most audacious raid on the American Treasury in the history of the Republic. With all the calamities pouring forth from the White House, no one would blame the American people from being unaware of a dangerous case moving quietly through the legal system: Trump v. Internal Revenue Service.

President Donald Trump is currently suing the very government he leads for a staggering $10 billion in damages. To put that number in perspective, that is more than 80% of the entire annual budget for the IRS. And I’m about to explain how he’s turning the public Treasury into a personal ATM.

The “Self-Settlement” Absurdity

The core of this outrage is a conflict of interest so blatant it feels like a fever dream. The President has sued an agency he oversees, which is defended by a Justice Department (DOJ) filled with his own appointees. Trump himself didn’t even try to hide the game, recently telling reporters:

“I’m supposed to work out a settlement with myself.”

Under current norms, the President effectively controls both the plaintiff and the defendant in this litigation. This creates a “collusive litigation” environment where the public’s treasury is left entirely undefended. Justice Department lawyers are currently “struggling” (according to NY Times interviews) to decide how to respond, caught between their duty to the public and a White House executive order that binds them to the President’s own interpretation of the law.

The Secret “Voluntary Dismissal” Loophole

What makes this situation worse is the possibility of a “ghost” settlement — a massive payout that happens entirely behind closed doors. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41, a plaintiff can voluntarily dismiss a case at any time before the defendant files a formal answer.

Because the DOJ has repeatedly requested extensions to “engage in discussions designed to resolve this matter,” they have not yet filed a formal defense. If Trump has his government cut a check to himself in a private settlement, the only thing the public might ever see on the court docket is a simple notice of voluntary dismissal. The case would vanish, the legal questions would never be answered by a judge (who would surely throw the case out), and the money would simply disappear from the Treasury’s Judgment Fund.

Payouts in the Dark

You might think $10 billion would be hard to hide, but the technical mechanics of the Treasury’s payment systems are shockingly ill-equipped for this level of “shakedown.” The Treasury’s Secure Payment System actually has a 10-digit limit for single payments, capping them at $99,999,999.99. For a $10 billion heist, the administration would have to break the payout into dozens of separate hundred-million-dollar chunks just to get the system to accept it.

These payments are not reported instantaneously, meaning the money could be long gone before a single taxpayer realizes the vault has been emptied.

The Emerging “MAGA Grift”

This isn’t a one-off event, but a pattern. We’ve already seen the DOJ settle a lawsuit from Trump’s former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, for $1.2 million after he sued on the grounds of “malicious prosecution”. Lawmakers are now warning of an “emerging MAGA grift” where allies of the President sue the government as a plaintiff, and then dismiss their case after Trump administration lawyers offer a big settlement in lieu of a trial (where a judge, jury, or public could hear the feeble arguments).

Trump has suggested he would donate any winnings to charity, but critics note that even if he did, it would still be the American taxpayer — not the President — forced to fund his personal philanthropy. And Trump does have a long history of giving away other people’s money rather than his own, then taking the credit.

The Fight Back: Stopping the Plunder

The good news is that the alarm bells are ringing. A coalition of lawmakers is moving to install the guardrails our system clearly lacks.

But, none of us should be naive. The likelihood that any of these pass, much less get signed by Trump into law while he’s in office, is practically zero — but that’s not the point. Our members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats, need to hear that we’re upset about this, so that pressure bubbles up to the White House that this thievery is not worth the political cost.

Here’s what we should be encouraging our elected leaders, friends, and family to support:

• The Ban Presidential Plunder of Taxpayer Funds Act: Introduced by Senators Warren and Schumer alongside Representatives Raskin and Min, this bill would flatly prohibit any sitting President, Vice President, or their families from collecting settlement payments from the federal government.

• The Corruption Clawback Act: This legislation, already introduced by Senator Schiff, would create a mechanism to forcibly retrieve funds that have already been siphoned off through these abusive claims.

• The Stop Presidential Embezzlement Act: Senator Ron Wyden has proposed taxing any damages a President receives from the government at 100%, effectively negating the profit motive for suing the public.

We are now waiting for a “notice of voluntary dismissal” to hit the docket. That’s our first clue the worst case scenario has occured, and the check has likely already cleared.

We must demand that the DOJ zealously defend the public interest and that Congress passes these protections immediately. The integrity of our judicial process depends on whether the Presidency is a public service or a private business opportunity.

Do you think the Department of Justice should be allowed to settle a lawsuit with the President in secret?