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By Andrew Stanton
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President Donald Trump settled a $100 million lawsuit against his niece, Mary Trump, over accusations that she leaked information to The New York Times for an investigation into his finances.
Mary Trump has garnered attention for her vocal critiques of her estranged uncle’s politics and administration and is a rare member of the Trump family to speak out against the president. The settlement ends one of the most personal legal battles in the president's orbit, stemming from Mary Trump’s role in providing family tax documents to The New York Times.
Trump Lawsuit Settlement: What To Know
The Trumps announced the settlement on Tuesday, according to court records reviewed by Newsweek.
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“The parties are pleased to report they have reached a settlement and anticipate being able to stipulate to the dismissal of this action with prejudice in the ensuing weeks, following completion of certain conditions precedent,” the letter reads.
More details about the settlement or any conditions were not immediately made public on Wednesday.
Newsweek reached out to lawyers representing Donald Trump and Mary Trump in the case for comment.
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Mary Trump Accused of Leaking Documents to New York Times
The case was first filed in 2021 and centered on a 2018 New York Times article about the president’s finances. It reported that Fred Trump, the president's father, had given his son at least $413 million over the years, including through tax-avoidance schemes. The article went on to win a Pulitzer Prize.
Mary Trump was accused of improperly providing records to the Times for the article. Court records filed by Trump’s lawyers described the leak as a “blatant breach” of a settlement agreement. Mary Trump's lawyers argue in court filings that the lawsuit was "baseless" and should have been dismissed.
"Mr. Trump wields the confidentiality provision as if it were virtually unlimited in scope and time, precluding speech on issues that became of central public concern once he first ran for President of the United States. His interpretation is unreasonable and has already been rejected by Dutchess County Supreme Court Justice Greenwald," her lawyers wrote.
The complaint stated that Mary Trump revealed details about the disclosure in her 2020 book, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.
The lawsuit was partially dismissed in 2023, with claims against the newspaper and reporters being dropped. However, in 2024, a New York court allowed the claims against Mary Trump to proceed and held that there was a "substantial" basis for Donald Trump's claim against his niece to move forward.
The appeals court at the time also suggested that Trump might only be awarded "nominal" damages against his niece if he wins the case, rather than the $100 million he sought.
The five-judge panel wrote that "at a minimum, nominal damages may still be available on the breach of contract claim even in the absence of actual damages," according to Reuters.
In July 2025, Mary Trump's lawyers wrote in a letter to the court that they were struggling to get the president to sit for a deposition.
Who Is Mary Trump?
Mary Trump is the daughter of Fred Trump Jr., who regularly criticizes the president. She has described her uncle as "utterly incapable of leading this country and it's dangerous to allow him to do so."
She is a psychologist and author of several books. She has become a political commentator, publishing a podcast and newsletter on Substack where she regularly speaks out against Trump.
"The one thing Donald has always feared most is to be seen as a loser and the humiliation that comes with that," she wrote in January.
Trump officials have pushed back on her claims, previously telling Newsweek she is "a stone-old loser who doesn’t have a clue about anything.”
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Gabe Whisnant and Samantha Wilson.
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