Republican pressure and Capitol riot concerns helped derail Trump’s controversial fund
Donald Trump has abandoned plans for a controversial $1.8 billion fund after fierce opposition erupted from within his own party, exposing deep Republican unease over a proposal linked to January 6 defendants.
The proposed “anti-weaponisation” fund had triggered alarm in Washington because critics feared taxpayer money could ultimately benefit people convicted over the 2021 Capitol riot.
The plan emerged from negotiations tied to Trump’s legal battle with the Internal Revenue Service. The US president had sued the IRS for $10 billion following the leak of his 2019 and 2020 tax returns. In May, he agreed to drop the lawsuit in exchange for a $1.8 billion settlement fund designed to support individuals he claimed had been unfairly targeted by the Biden administration.
Trump publicly defended the arrangement, portraying it as an effort to secure justice for people he believed faced political persecution.
Yet the proposal rapidly became politically toxic.
Republicans in Congress raised concerns behind closed doors, with lawmakers reportedly warning the White House that the fund needed major changes or risked being blocked altogether. Anxiety centred on the possibility that recipients connected to the January 6 Capitol attack could qualify for payouts.
Lawmakers explored several possible restrictions. Discussions included tightening eligibility rules, reshaping the commission responsible for deciding settlements, and introducing judicial oversight for applicants.
Resistance did not come solely from Democrats. Senior Republicans also signalled discomfort with the proposal.
John Thune, the Senate majority leader, openly suggested the administration should shut the initiative down itself rather than prolong the fight.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Thune said the best outcome would be for the administration to end the settlement voluntarily.
Pressure intensified as the Department of Justice announced it would comply with a judicial order requiring a temporary pause on work connected to the fund. The department said the halt would help ensure that money was not distributed irreversibly while legal questions remained unresolved.
However, the court order did not force the White House to abandon the programme entirely.
Attention instead turned to internal Republican discussions.
A meeting in the Oval Office involving Trump and Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker of the House, is widely believed to have played a decisive role in persuading the president to scrap the plan.
The collapse of the fund marks a notable retreat for Trump, who had defended it only days earlier.
Writing on Truth Social on May 22, Trump argued he had sacrificed significant personal financial gains to make the arrangement possible. He said he could have pursued a far richer settlement involving both the tax return dispute and the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago. Instead, he claimed he chose a path designed to help others he viewed as victims of political targeting.
The controversy also reopened long-running divisions within Republican ranks over January 6 and Trump’s handling of those involved. Some prominent Republicans have previously broken with the president over his decisions concerning Capitol riot participants.
What began as a legal settlement tied to leaked tax records quickly transformed into a political flashpoint. By the end, criticism from Trump’s own allies proved powerful enough to sink one of the administration’s most contentious proposals.