The record is public, and it moved fast this weekend.
On Friday, speaking to reporters at Camp David, President Trump acknowledged that his $1.776 billion 'anti-weaponization fund' had stalled. 'It's dead, but you know, I wish it weren't,' he said. By Saturday morning, the fund was back on the table.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump threatened to push Congress to codify the fund into law if Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) continue to block the Senate confirmation of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. 'I will keep Todd as Acting A.G., and push hard to get the Anti-Weaponization Bill... PASSED,' Trump wrote.
Trump attributed the senators' opposition to personal grievance, writing they were 'both upset because I wouldn't Endorse them (they lost, and quit, respectively!).' The record on that point: Tillis announced he would retire at the end of his term in January following tense relations with Trump; Cornyn lost his primary race to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, after Trump chose to endorse Paxton over the four-term incumbent.
The fund itself originated from a settlement negotiated between Trump's private attorneys and his own Department of Justice. It was designed to compensate individuals who claimed political persecution under the Biden administration — including, according to UPI, January 6 rioters. The settlement also contained a provision shielding Trump and his family from future IRS audits and investigations.
Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled that settlement was not legal. The same judge accused Blanche of double-dealing by working on behalf of both Trump and the federal agency — the IRS — that Trump was challenging in the lawsuit, in which he had initially sought $10 billion.
Blanche has said at various points that the fund would not move forward, but Cornyn and Tillis have demanded written assurances from the DOJ, which Blanche has not produced. A planned Senate Judiciary Committee vote to advance Blanche was cancelled last week. All Republicans on the committee, including Cornyn and Tillis, must support him for the nomination to advance.
Senator Tillis did not soften his position after Trump's Saturday post. 'Despite comments as late as yesterday that the fund is dead, President Trump clearly intends to resurrect the payout pot for punks,' Tillis wrote on X, adding: 'It's unfortunate that Todd Blanche, who I consider qualified for the job, will not be confirmed because of this reversal. Hopefully, we can resolve this by Tuesday.'
Republican leaders have also called the fund politically toxic ahead of the November midterm elections.
---
Follow the incentive, not the press release. Trump's weekend reversal is less a policy pivot than a pressure campaign: use the fund as leverage to secure Blanche's confirmation, then declare it dead again once the votes are there. Whether that gambit works depends entirely on whether Cornyn and Tillis believe the written assurances they are demanding will ever arrive.
What is at stake is not abstract. A fund drawn from a settlement between a president and an agency he controls — one that also happens to shield him and his family from future tax scrutiny — is precisely the kind of arrangement that erodes institutional credibility regardless of which party engineers it. The judge said as much. The Senate's reluctance, on both sides of the aisle, is the system working as designed. That is worth saying plainly.
