{"id":479,"date":"2026-05-26T20:10:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T20:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=479"},"modified":"2026-05-26T20:10:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T20:10:26","slug":"trumps-slush-fund-offers-countless-ways-to-grift-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=479","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s slush fund offers countless ways to grift: analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

President Donald Trump\u2019s $1.776 billion \u201cslush fund\u201d is a \u201cmultitool for corruption and maintaining MAGA discipline,\u201d argues The Bulwark\u2018s editor, Jonathan V. Last, suggesting there are multiple ways Trump can use the fund \u2014 all involving corruption.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump torn apart for new effort to silence government workers<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the obvious ways is bribery, writes Last. But another way is \u201cmore subtle,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s about holding people on side.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last reminds readers the president figured out that by using private lawsuits in civil court, he could \u201clegalize bribery and extortion.\u201d He explains, \u201cthat\u2019s what his defamation suits against CBS and ABC were.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump understood that while it might be illegal to go to CBS and ABC and demand that they pay him protection money, he could use a civil lawsuit as justification for creating a private legal contract that amounted to the same thing,\u201d writes Last. \u201cHe further understood that if he filed a civil suit against the U.S. government and then became president, he could direct the government to settle with him on whatever terms he desired.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how the $1.776 billion fund was created.<\/p>\n

Last notes that Trump\u2019s fund sunsets \u2014 disappears \u2014 just before he leaves office, so no other president can use it. But there\u2019s another reason.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you were Trump, would you pay out money before<\/em> your last days in office?\u201d Last asks. \u201cBecause I would not.\u201d<\/p>\n

He argues that it\u2019s more effective to pay out a few people early during the life of the fund to establish its legitimacy, then stop.<\/p>\n

Read more New defense budget torpedoes Trump-class battleship<\/a><\/p>\n

By stopping, you turn the problem of having just \u201c1,700 million-dollar portions\u201d into \u201ctens of billions of dollars\u2019 worth of promises.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t worry, we\u2019ll take care of you; you just have to wait a little bit longer,\u201d Trump might say, while those who filed claims could be \u201cthinking that, since he\u2019s going to pay up at the very end, there\u2019s enough cash for them to get theirs.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is how Trump can use the fund to solve the problem of being a \u201cpolitically weak\u201d lame duck president.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe the POTUS is becoming unpopular, so candidates need to distance themselves from him,\u201d Last writes. \u201cMaybe party elites are thinking about the future and how to take over once the old man is gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fund offers \u201cthe promise of a tangible reward for Republicans to stay on his side. Be nice to him. Do what he asks. Don\u2019t freelance. And maybe there\u2019s a pot of gold for you at the end of the rainbow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will encourage them to modulate what they say. And within the rest of the Republican ecosystem, having more people on-side than there otherwise would be will have a force-multiplier effect. Seeing people stick with Trump will cause more people to stick with Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Joe Rogan compares \u2018crazy\u2019 Trump to Saddam Hussein\u2019s bloodthirsty son<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump\u2019s $1.776 billion \u201cslush fund\u201d is a \u201cmultitool for corruption and maintaining MAGA discipline,\u201d argues The Bulwark\u2018s editor, Jonathan V. Last, suggesting there are multiple ways Trump can use the fund \u2014 all involving corruption.One of the obvious ways is bribery, writes Last. B…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump\u2019s slush fund offers countless ways to grift: analysis - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=479\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump\u2019s slush fund offers countless ways to grift: analysis - Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Donald Trump\u2019s $1.776 billion \u201cslush fund\u201d is a \u201cmultitool for corruption and maintaining MAGA discipline,\u201d argues The Bulwark\u2018s editor, Jonathan V. 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