The Justice Department in Washington indicated on Monday the end of the separate pot of money, which should have been funded with $1.776 billion.Image: keystone
After heavy criticism from Democrats and Republicans, the US Justice Department is backing down. The resistance to the president’s idea was simply too great.
Jun 2, 2026, 6:34 amJun 2, 2026, 6:34 am
The strong criticism of a compensation fund from which alleged victims of the politically biased judiciary should have been compensated is having consequences. The Justice Department in Washington indicated on Monday the end of the separate pot of money, which should have been funded with $1.776 billion.
On the short message service However, they will accept Judge Leonie Brinkema’s ruling that the fund should be put on hold for at least two weeks. A little later, the New York Times reported that President Donald Trump had dropped the plan to set up the fund. For the time being, however, the President refrained from communicating this momentous decision himself.
The fund had been criticized in Congress by Republicans and Democrats. Left-wing MPs accused the government of corruption, as the money payments would primarily flow to the president’s allies. They should have been compensated for the hardship they suffered during the administrations of Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Rioters who stormed the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021 after a Trump rally claimed damages because they were supposedly demonstrating peacefully.
Ted Cruz speaks of harsh criticism of Blanche
Interestingly, some right-wing agitators also joined this criticism. Ten days ago, interim Justice Minister Todd Blanche had to put up with severe criticism when he answered questions from the Republican faction in the Senate. Many of his colleagues were “pissed off,” Ted Cruz reported afterwards, and they yelled at Blanche “during the entire meeting.” Some Republicans said on Monday that the Justice Department’s statement was not enough for them – they wanted a public assurance from the president that he would completely waive the compensation fund.
This unusual claim can be explained by the unusual history of the special fund. The idea of setting up a compensation fund became public after Trump and his family filed a civil lawsuit against the IRS in January 2026. In it, the president alleged a violation of his privacy because the Treasury had allowed Trump’s tax returns to be published during his first term in office. His demand: $10 billion in damages.
The lawsuit, which was probably filed after the statute of limitations had expired, was never publicly heard. Before the proceedings in Miami (Florida) got underway, the two “disputing parties” agreed to an out-of-court settlement. So Trump came to an agreement with Trump, since the president is head of the entire executive branch, which also includes the tax administration.
Judge wants to reopen proceedings
This settlement was tough: the president dropped his exorbitant claims for damages. But he made the IRS promise to leave his old tax returns alone. A procedure that has been dragging on for years and allegedly revolves around a tax refund amounting to a three-digit million amount has thus been discontinued.
And the Ministry of Justice also agreed to the establishment of a compensation fund into which tax money would flow. Blanche claimed that this new pot of money would be used to compensate all victims of the justice system in recent years, including Democrats and independents. But the president’s comments made it clear that his Republican aides should benefit first.
Now all the pillars of this deal are in danger of collapsing. Not only does the Ministry of Justice want to forego the compensation fund. A federal judge in Miami (Florida) also announced last week that she would reopen the proceedings – because there is suspicion that the Trumps’ lawsuit was filed maliciously “for the sole purpose of reaching a settlement.” (aargauerzeitung.ch)