Trump halts $1.8bn ‘anti-weaponisation’ fund amid bipartisan backlash

The announcement comes after Trump met with congressional Republicans over concerns about his settlement with the IRS.

United States President Donald Trump will reportedly drop his $1.8bn “anti-weaponisation” fund amid congressional backlash, including from fellow Republicans.

On Monday, US media indicated the fund would be paused, though the White House has yet to publicly confirm the reports.

Axios was the first to break the news, citing an unnamed senior official. “It’s dead for now,” the official told the news outlet.

The “anti-weaponisation” fund was announced last month as part of a settlement between Trump and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), part of his executive branch.

According to documents released by the Department of Justice, the $1.8bn was slated to serve as payment for victims of “lawfare” and government “weaponisation”.

Trump himself has repeatedly painted himself as such a victim, framing himself and his allies as targets of unfair government prosecution.

Monday’s announcement came after Trump met with House Speaker Mike Johnson over Republican concerns about the “anti-weaponisation” fund.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has likewise called for the fund to be dropped, as he seeks to rally Republicans to pass a $72bn immigration enforcement funding bill.

Still, Democrats on the Senate floor argued that the reported pause did not go far enough.

“The press reports that Trump says he will table his $2bn MAGA slush fund,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, using the acronym for Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement.

“But a promise from Trump is worthless. If Trump and Republicans are truly abandoning this corrupt scheme, they should have zero problem banning it in law.”

Schumer pledged to advance legislation to “ensure no president can ever do this again”.

Plans for the $1.8bn “anti-weaponisation” fund were revealed on May 18, shortly after Trump agreed to drop his case against the IRS.

Trump had filed the lawsuit in January, alleging that the IRS was responsible for the leak of his tax returns, information from which was published in The New York Times and ProPublica, starting in 2020.

The Republican leader sought $10bn in damages, though critics argued that the lawsuit faced an uphill battle.

There were questions about whether it fell within the statute of limitations and whether the IRS could be held responsible for the actions of an outside contractor, Charles Littlejohn, who was convicted of leaking the documents.

The lawsuit and the subsequent settlement also raised outcry over apparent conflicts of