It is difficult to wake up in the morning and look at the news coming out of America without letting out a very long, very deep sigh. Just when you think the circus has packed up its tent, the clowns come back for an encore—and this time, the ticket price is staggering. In a major escalation, **Donald Trump** and his adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, have launched a **federal lawsuit against the IRS** and the **US Treasury Department**, claiming their hurt feelings are worth **$10 billion**. Yes, you read that correctly. Ten billion.

The former President is suing the very government he used to lead, citing a massive **data privacy breach**. Specifically, he is targeting the IRS for allowing his **private tax information** to be spilled to the press. The lawsuit alleges the government failed to implement proper safeguards, resulting in what the Trumps call a political hit job designed to damage his reputation.

Now, let us pause and optimize our perspective on the sheer absurdity of that number. Ten billion dollars. That is enough to run a small country or buy several professional sports teams. But apparently, in the world of the Trumps, that is just the going rate for having your **tax returns** read by strangers. It suggests a level of self-importance that is truly breathtaking. If a regular person had their information leaked, they might get an apology letter or a year of free credit monitoring. But if your name is on a gold tower, the legal stakes are astronomically different.

The lawsuit focuses on **confidential tax data** given to news outlets like **The New York Times** and **ProPublica**. These outlets published investigative reports showing how the wealthiest people in America—including Mr. Trump—often pay very little in **federal income taxes** compared to their massive wealth. This is the part that I find most amusing. For years, we have watched a man brag about his billionaire status, putting his name on steaks, water, hotels, and golf courses. Yet, when the paperwork comes out showing the nuts and bolts of that wealth, suddenly it is a tragedy worthy of a massive **privacy lawsuit**.

Of course, we must look at the other side of this sad coin: the government's competence—or lack thereof. The **Internal Revenue Service (IRS)** is supposed to be a vault where secrets are kept safe. The fact that thousands of files on the richest people in the country were just handed over to journalists is a testament to spectacular incompetence. It is not surprising, though. Government agencies are often run like broken machines held together by tape and hope.

I have always found it funny how Americans talk about the "Deep State," as if there is a group of geniuses pulling the strings in the shadows. If this **IRS leak** proves anything, it is that there are no geniuses. There are just leaky offices and people who cannot follow rules. The lawsuit claims the IRS did not have the right safeguards in place. On this point, Philomena O'Connor is forced to agree. A government that cannot keep a tax return secret is a government that is not functioning properly.

But let us return to the money. Who exactly is supposed to pay this **$10 billion settlement**? The IRS? The Treasury? That is not how it works. The government does not have its own money. It has your money. It has the taxpayers' money. So, if Mr. Trump wins this lawsuit, the check will effectively be written by the American people. The irony here is so thick you could cut it with a knife. The man famous for fighting to pay as little tax as possible is suing for a payout that would be funded by the taxes of everyone else.

It is a perfect circle of nonsense. The rich get to play by different rules, and when those rules are broken, they demand a ransom that the poor have to pay. It is a theater of the absurd. The lawyers will get richer, the headlines will get louder, and absolutely nothing will change about the broken system that allowed this to happen in the first place.

This lawsuit is not really about justice. It is not about privacy, either. Privacy is dead; we all know this. This is about ego. It is about control. And mostly, it is about keeping the show going. Because in America, if you aren't suing someone for a billion dollars, do you even really exist?

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### **REFERENCES & FACT-CHECK** * **Original Event:** **[Trump and his sons sue IRS and US Treasury over leaked tax information](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c23ryyrx40yo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss)** (BBC News) * **Context:** The lawsuit, filed in Washington D.C., alleges that the **IRS** and **Treasury Department** failed to protect the Trumps' data, leading to disclosures in **ProPublica** and **The New York Times** regarding the low tax rates paid by the ultra-wealthy.