More: And although the money itself belongs to Iran " the funds are frozen under sanctions " it would be a solution for Mr Trump, who broke his campaign promise and led America to war on Feb 28.
With no country other than Israel by his side militarily, and without any public or diplomatic backing from traditional allies, the US president promised that overwhelming force would bring a swift victory and prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Instead, with higher oil prices and the chances of a global recession higher than at any time since the 2020 pandemic, peace will probably mean releasing those billions in cash to a regime that, despite Mr Trump's numerous promises and declarations, remains standing.
For the White House, the problem is not only the scale of the payment. It also sends a contradictory and electorally risky message to American voters as Washington's political calendar turns from war into a midterm election cycle.
For starters, the cash does not return a fully fledged peace agreement but something closer to a vague one-page document that provides "the framework for future negotiations".
If that is indeed the case " and statements from both sides in the conflict seem still very much at odds " it will be an endpoint a long way from Mr Trump's starting point.
Announcing the beginning of the war from Mar-a-Lago, his Florida home and resort, the president pledged to destroy Iran's missile industry and eliminate regional terrorist proxies. He also urged the Iranian people to rise up and overthrow the regime.
Yet the one-page outline agreement appears to address none of those objectives, instead leaving them to be discussed during the 30 to 60-day period that is expected to follow. Indeed, on Monday, the president watered down his original demand that Iran's highly enriched uranium be handed over to the United States.
Releasing billions of dollars is as legally difficult as it is politically complex. Just $2bn (1.6bn) of Iran's assets are thought to be frozen in the United States. Much of the remaining money, calculated to be worth about $100bn (80bn), is held in international bank accounts frozen by the United Nations.
To release it, Washington would probably need to waive sanctions, cooperation from foreign governments and a mechanism to guarantee the cash not used by the regime to rebuild its nuclear weapons programme or fund its proxies.
More: The younger Alito maintains no public resume, has no LinkedIn profile and his name appears nowhere on the Treasury Department's website. Colleagues recall that he went out of his way to avoid drawing attention to his famous surname.
But the low profile belies the significance of his role. As an attorney-adviser in the general counsel's front office, Philip Alito was briefed on important Treasury matters across the board and offered legal feedback at the highest levels.
"There's no doubt he got that position because of who he is," a second source said.
The Treasury Department's general counsel office handles legal matters related to taxation, economic policy and law enforcement. It could be involved in multiple federal lawsuits challenging Trump's controversial anti-weaponization fund " which allocates public money to individuals claiming unfair targeting by the Justice Department " that could ultimately reach the Supreme Court.
While Philip Alito was working at the Treasury, a lawsuit challenging Trump's use of emergency powers to issue tariffs was argued before the justices in November " with the Treasury Department named as a defendant, but the department never disclosed Philip Alito's employment in court documents.
His father did not recuse himself from the case, ultimately joining a dissent when the majority ruled against the administration in February.
Justice Alito's office did not responded to requests for comment from NOTUS.