{"id":23754,"date":"2026-08-01T01:18:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T20:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=23754"},"modified":"2026-08-01T01:18:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T20:18:56","slug":"trump-says-anti-weaponization-fund-is-dead-but-says-he-still-wants-payouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=23754","title":{"rendered":"Trump says &#8216;Anti-Weaponization Fund&#8217; is &#8216;dead,&#8217; but says he still wants payouts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">President Donald Trump acknowledged for the first time Friday that the $1.8 billion so-called &#8220;Anti-Weaponization Fund&#8221; is &#8220;dead,&#8221; but made clear that he wishes it still existed. He also did not spell out why the end of the fund isn&#8217;t being put in writing.<!-- -->\u00a0<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The fund and Trump&#8217;s settlement with the IRS, which provided him and his family immunity from any existing audits of tax returns, has thrown a wrench in the nomination of Todd Blanche to be attorney general.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Republican Sen. John Cornyn, a <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/Politics\/gops-cornyn-continues-block-todd-blanche-attorney-general\/story?id=135228494\" dir=\"ltr\">key holdout on Blanche&#8217;s nomination<\/a>, is demanding the Department of Justice formally put on paper that the fund is not moving forward &#8212; as <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/Politics\/blanche-face-grilling-doj-controversies-seeks-confirmation-ag\/story?id=134746132\" dir=\"ltr\">Blanche testified under oath during his confirmation hearing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;Do you agree with the acting attorney general that the Anti-Weaponization Fund is dead, and why not just put that in writing?&#8221; ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce asked Trump at a Cabinet meeting at Camp David.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;Well, it is dead, but you know I wish it weren&#8217;t,<!-- -->\u00a0<!-- -->to be honest with you,&#8221; Trump responded. &#8220;I think people were horribly treated, horribly abused &#8230; and I&#8217;d like to see them compensated for the pain.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"oLzSq QrHMO fnRUo pvsTF EhJPu vPlOC zNYgW OsTsW RMeqy daRVX ISNQ sKyCY eRftA acPPc MENS nFwaT MCnQE mEeeY SmBjI xegrY rPLsU iulOd NIuqO zzscu lzDCc aHUBM IEgzD OjMNy eQqcx SVqKB GQmdz jaoD VWDdR ONJdw vrZxD OnRTz gbbfF roDbV GPGwb oMlSS gfNzt oJhud eXZcf zhVlX \">\n<div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage GpQCA lZur asrEW \" data-testid=\"prism-inline-image\">\n<figure class=\"kzIjN GNmeK pYrtp dSqFO \" data-testid=\"prism-figure\">\n<div class=\"GpQCA lZur \" style=\"padding-bottom:65.12345679012346%\" data-testid=\"prism-ratio-frame\">\n<div class=\"FvQLF iLTd NqeUA UzzHi iWsMV \"><picture data-testid=\"prism-picture\"><source media=\"(max-width: 414px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/cc0d8e8a-3f3c-42eb-8db2-1a333c1f2961\/cabinet-21-rt-gmh-260731_1785516825114_hpMain.jpg?w=375, https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/cc0d8e8a-3f3c-42eb-8db2-1a333c1f2961\/cabinet-21-rt-gmh-260731_1785516825114_hpMain.jpg?w=750 2x\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 415px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/cc0d8e8a-3f3c-42eb-8db2-1a333c1f2961\/cabinet-21-rt-gmh-260731_1785516825114_hpMain.jpg?w=750, https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/cc0d8e8a-3f3c-42eb-8db2-1a333c1f2961\/cabinet-21-rt-gmh-260731_1785516825114_hpMain.jpg?w=1500 2x\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"hsDdd NDJZt sJeUN IJwXl vBqtr KrDt itslR SjwtZ hakZw HlUVI \" data-testid=\"prism-image\" draggable=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/cc0d8e8a-3f3c-42eb-8db2-1a333c1f2961\/cabinet-21-rt-gmh-260731_1785516825114_hpMain.jpg\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>\n<div class=\"nMMea bNYiy Mjgpa dGwha DDmxa jgKNG RGHCC aBIU PriDW aiQHS lZur \" data-testid=\"prism-caption\">\n<p><span class=\"hsDdd OOSI GpQCA lZur VlFaz \" data-testid=\"prism-truncate\"><span><span class=\"gtOSm FbbUW tUtYa vOCwz EQwFq yCufu eEak Qmvg nyTIa SRXVc vzLa jgBfc WXDas CiUCW kqbG zrdEG txGfn ygKVe BbezD UOtxr CVfpq xijV soGRS XgdC sEIlf daWqJ \">President Donald Trump listens to questions from reporters during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David, the presidential retreat, July 31, 2026 in Camp David, Maryland.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"gtOSm FbbUW tUtYa vOCwz EQwFq yCufu eEak Qmvg nyTIa SRXVc vzLa jgBfc WXDas CiUCW kqbG zrdEG txGfn ygKVe BbezD UOtxr CVfpq xijV soGRS XgdC sEIlf daWqJ YNujN JGtjI aZFDu rkKLh \">Daniel Heuer\/Reuters<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Trump then argued that Blanche, despite his role as acting attorney general, &#8220;shouldn&#8217;t be in the middle of this.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The Senate Judiciary Committee <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/Politics\/cornyn-cancels-meeting-blanche-ahead-key-committee-vote\/story?id=135196144\" dir=\"ltr\">postponed voting Thursday<\/a> on Blanche&#8217;s nomination amid resistance from Cornyn, as well as Republican Sen. Thom Tillis &#8212; both outgoing senators whose terms end in January.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Trump has floated the possibility of temporarily withdrawing Blanche&#8217;s nomination until Cornyn and Tillis are out of office.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Cornyn, in addition to wanting written confirmation that the fund is dead, said he wants to see the scope of Trump&#8217;s immunity deal with the IRS narrowed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The president was asked if he was willing to accept limits on the scope of that deal in order to get Blanche approved to the post permanently.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">&#8220;He should be approved forthwith,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;I mean, you&#8217;re not going to get a person like that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Donald Trump acknowledged for the first time Friday that the $1.8 billion so-called &#8220;Anti-Weaponization Fund&#8221; is &#8220;dead,&#8221; but made clear that he wishes it still existed. He also did not spell out why the end of the fund isn&#8217;t being put in writing.\u00a0\u00a0 The fund and Trump&#8217;s settlement with the IRS, which provided him&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/cc0d8e8a-3f3c-42eb-8db2-1a333c1f2961\/cabinet-21-rt-gmh-260731_1785516825114_hpMain_16x9.jpg?w=1600","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abc-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}