{"id":4281,"date":"2026-08-02T16:09:40","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T16:09:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4281"},"modified":"2026-08-02T16:09:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T16:09:40","slug":"trump-is-giving-his-supporters-taxpayer-money-whether-anyone-likes-it-or-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4281","title":{"rendered":"Trump is giving his supporters taxpayer money whether anyone likes it or not"},"content":{"rendered":"
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President Donald Trump\u2019s economic policies are so clearly based on benefiting those with proximity to the president that critics have denounced them with terms like \u201ccrony capitalism\u201d and \u201ccommunism of pelf.\u201d Now a series of commentators observed that one of the most controversial manifestations of these policies \u2014 his $1.776 billion slush fund to Trump supporters who claim they were persecuted by the government \u2014 is likely to proceed despite it being ruled illegal by a judge and fiercely opposed even by many members of Trump\u2019s own Republican Party. <\/p>\n

Read more Trump is sneaking in new laws that will literally make it harder to breathe<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe $1.8 billion slush fund that would help these insurrectionists would be coming from a bigger pot called the Judgment Fund, right?\u201d explained lawyer and legal commentator Katie Phang on MS NOW. She had previously described how Trump\u2019s pick for attorney general, acting attorney general Todd Blanche, has so far not been able to be confirmed because Republican lawmakers like Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas oppose his refusal to promise the slush fund is dead.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Judgment Fund is used to pay out settlements and verdicts and judgments that stem from Federal Tort Claims Act litigation, or claims made against the federal government,\u201d Phang explained. \u201cBut those FTCA claims get vetted, ostensibly by a legitimate Department of Justice review. So when you think about the idea that there would be somebody who would legitimately, credibly gatekeep these claims \u2014 yeah, that’s what the FTCA was designed to do. The government screws up, they’ve got to pay it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added, \u201cThat’s a totally separate thing, right? The real corruption here is the initiation of the lawsuit and its genesis. Trump wanted to give cover to create the slush fund for the insurrectionists and for his buddies whom he wanted to be able to pay out money to, including people like Michael Caputo, Steve Bannon, and Michael Flynn. So he created this lawsuit with the whole charade of it. And when a federal judge busted him on it, he essentially said, \u2018Oh well, I can just do this the way I want to through a bill.\u2019 That’s not going to work either, because as Tillis said, you’re not going to get the support from Republicans to get it across the finish line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier in the same interview, MS NOW political analyst Steve Benen observed that Trump\u2019s slush fund is so politically toxic, Republican lawmakers \u2014 despite normally deferring to Trump\u2019s wishes \u2014 have been uncharacteristically bold in taking a stand against it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it hasn’t really been fully explored yet, because when you look back at the context of the Senate right now, John Cornyn and Thom Tillis are taking the lead on this,\u201d Benen said. \u201cBut according to both of them, they’re not alone. They say that they’re representing a variety of Republican senators who share the same concerns they do about the Blanche nomination. And in fact, in recent days, we’ve seen a lot of evidence of that. We saw [Republican Sen.] Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, whose term in Congress is also soon ending, saying he has concerns. We’ve seen Alaska’s [Republican Sen.] Lisa Murkowski stepping up and saying, \u2018You know what? Maybe Blanche’s confirmation isn’t going to happen.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Conservative pundit says Trump only has \u2018months left\u2019 to govern<\/a><\/p>\n

Benen added, \u201cAnd so really, this resistance isn’t limited to two people stepping up. We’re seeing broader concern among GOP senators saying maybe Blanche’s nomination is no longer a sure thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The slush fund in question was created because Trump sued the IRS due to an independent contractor leaking his tax returns in 2018, thereby showing he had not paid income taxes for multiple years and had a string of previously-undisclosed business failures. Even though no one has ever been compensated for this issue and has instead merely received apologies, Trump sued the IRS for $10 billion. When a judge overseeing the case questioned the lawsuit\u2019s legality \u2014 noting that Trump both controls the IRS he is using and the Justice Department that is supposed to defend the IRS \u2014 the president and Blanche rushed to \u201csettle\u201d the suit for $1.776 billion, to be dispensed to Trump supporters and Trump-affiliated institutions, as well as a pledge to spare Trump and his family all future audits.<\/p>\n

Judge Kathleen M. Williams quickly overturned the settlement, saying that it was an illegal form of self-dealing and could not be ethically implemented. By contrast, one of the potential beneficiaries of the slush fund \u2014 former 2016 Trump campaign worker and lawyer Sam Nunberg \u2014 told AlterNet in June that he believes the so-called \u201canti-weaponization fund\u201d is justified.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it’s a political witch hunt, yeah. I think there should be some kind of compensation fund for it, and I don’t care what party the people are from,\u201d Nunberg argued.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump isn\u2019t the disease \u2014 he\u2019s just a boil on the American system<\/a><\/p>\n