U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an announcement in the Oval Office of the White House on Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington, DC, U.S.
El Drago Bloomberg | getty images
President Donald Trump on Friday defended the controversial new Justice Department “Anti-Weaponization Fund” after vigorous opposition from Senate Republicans.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer, said earlier this week that he was creating a $1.8 billion fund as part of the settlement of Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.
Trump did not receive any money in that settlement, but the fund is intended to compensate many of his supporters who have alleged they were victims of the DOJ’s neglect of prosecution under the Biden administration.
“I gave up a lot of money to allow the recently announced anti-weapon funding to move forward,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
Trump said, “I could have settled my case, which also included the illegal release of my tax returns and the equally illegal break-in of Mar-a-Lago.” “Instead, I am helping others who were so badly abused by an evil, corrupt, and weaponized Biden administration finally receive justice!”
Earlier Friday, several House Republican lawmakers defended the fund in interviews with CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
House Budget Committee Chairman Jody Arrington, R-Texas, when asked about the fund, said Trump “has been one of the biggest victims of weaponization,” and that he considers it “a reasonable approach and use of tax dollars, as long as the guardrails are in place.”
But Arrington also said, “We have to put in place accountability measures and safeguards so that this isn’t a, quote, dirty fund, where you’re giving money to political allies who don’t have legitimate claims.”
“It needs to be fair and objective…that’s why I think the Senate will find a way forward,” he said.
Those guardrails could come as part of the next Congress’s reconciliation package, “or there could simply be a compromise between them,” Arrington suggested.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said of the fund, “I think it’s needed.”
Comer claimed Trump was the victim of “lawfare.”
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., when asked about the settlement of the case that led to the creation of the fund, said, “I wasn’t in the room, so I don’t know what the details are.”
“No one knows the weaponization of the government against him and his family better than Donald Trump,” Emmer said. “I suspect whatever agreement is reached is fair to both parties.”
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