President expressed interest in compensating those he calls “political persecution of the Biden government”
The government of the President of the United States, (Republican Party), created a fund of US$1.8 billion (R$9 billion) to compensate people who claim to have been targets of political use of the Justice system. Allies of the Republican and are among the possible beneficiaries. The measure is already the target of a lawsuit filed by police officers Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges, who worked in defense of the US Congress that day.
The Department of Justice announced the Anti-Weaponization Fund on Monday (May 18, 2026). The initiative was presented as part of an agreement to end a lawsuit filed by Trump against the IRS (US Internal Revenue Service) and the Treasury Department. The president was asking for US$10 billion (R$50 billion) because of the leak of his income tax returns.
According to journalists, the money will come from Judgment Fund –permanent account used by the U.S. government to pay settlements and court convictions without requiring individual congressional approval.
The agreement also ends two of Trump’s claims against the government related to the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago and the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The fund will be administered by a committee of 5 members appointed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer. The president will have the power to fire the commissioners. The body may grant formal apologies and payments to people who claim to have suffered lawfare or “instrumentalization” of the Justice system.
According to the journalist, decisions on payments cannot be challenged in court. The agreement also does not require public disclosure of the beneficiaries or the amounts transferred. The commission is expected to finish analyzing requests in December 2028, in the final weeks of Trump’s term.
Trump will not receive money directly from the settlement, according to the Justice Department. He, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump and the Trump Organization will receive a formal apology from the government. The settlement also prevents IRS audits of the president’s old tax returns.
The Republican has said for years that his allies were persecuted by Joe Biden’s government (Democratic Party). In March 2025, he stated that members of the government were discussing compensating those accused and convicted of “like” of this group. He also called these people “patriots” and said they were treated in a way “very unfair”according to the Dunn and Hodges lawsuit.
Blanche said that the objective of the fund is to compensate people who suffered political use of the public machine. According to the The Wall Street JournalTrump stated at an event at the White House that the decision on payments to attackers who attacked police officers will depend on the commission.
POLICE ACTION
Dunn, a former Capitol Police officer, and Hodges, a Washington Metropolitan Department police officer, filed suit on Wednesday (May 20, 2026) to try to stop the fund. They ask that the Court declare the creation of the mechanism illegal and reverse any transfers already made by the Treasury. Read , in English (PDF – 226 kB).
The 2 claim that the fund puts their lives at risk by financing people who threatened them after the invasion of the Capitol. The action says that the initiative could benefit members of Proud Boys and others accused or convicted of crimes committed on January 6, 2021.
According to the process, the fund allows spending on lawyers and prison time to be considered as criteria for payments. The lawsuit also claims that the creation of the structure was not authorized by Congress and violates federal law.
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