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Trump creates $1.7B fund for allies, halts IRS audits

Thursday, May 21, 2026 · from 3 podcasts, 4 episodes
Tucker Carlson ShowBreaking PointsThe Daily
  • Trump settled a lawsuit against his own administration, creating a $1.776B fund for "weaponization" victims like Jan. 6 defendants.
  • The deal forces the IRS to drop all current audits of Trump, his family, and his business empire.
  • Critics call it a taxpayer-funded political slush fund that bypasses Congressional approval.

The mechanism is a circular one. President Trump dropped a $10 billion lawsuit he had filed against the IRS. The resulting settlement, negotiated by his own Justice Department, establishes a $1.776 billion taxpayer fund under DOJ control. The administrators, five appointees selected by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, have total freedom to decide who gets paid.

"The DOJ redirected $1.776 billion to compensate Trump allies and January 6 rioters."

- The Daily

Potential beneficiaries include the nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with the January 6 Capitol insurrection. Democrats like Senator Chris Van Hollen describe it as a “political slush fund” for rewarding loyalists. On Breaking Points, Saagar Enjeti called it a direct theft from the Treasury, noting it bypasses the Congressional authorization typical for victim compensation funds.

The quieter, more consequential part of the deal shields the President’s wealth. As part of the settlement, the IRS will abandon all current audits of Trump, his sons, and the Trump Organization. The Daily reported Trump previously faced audits where a loss could have cost over $100 million. This provision grants him and his business a lifetime of tax audit immunity.

"Trump avoided a legal dismissal by settling a lawsuit where he was both parties."

- The Daily

Legal observers note the settlement resolved a lawsuit a federal judge was poised to dismiss as a “charade,” given Trump controlled both the plaintiff side and the government lawyers defending against it. The timing allowed him to avoid a court loss. The top lawyer at the Treasury Department resigned hours after the fund’s creation, with initial reports linking the move to objections over the arrangement.

The fund’s announcement coincides with a moment of fracture within Trump’s coalition. On his show, Tucker Carlson argued Trump’s refusal to declassify Epstein files and his pivot to cheerleading foreign wars represented a “cold-hearted globalist betrayal” of his America First base. Pollster Rich Baris, cited by Carlson, warned the GOP is alienating young voters to appease a shrinking base of boomer donors, trading the party’s future for short-term wins.

"This isn't just about one seat. Carlson views it as a total 180-degree turn from the platform that won in 2016."

- The Tucker Carlson Show

The $1.776 billion figure, a symbolic nod to the nation’s founding year, frames the redistribution as a patriotic correction. In practice, it establishes a precedent: the executive branch can now redirect public funds to political allies without legislative oversight, turning the Justice Department into an insurance provider for the President’s movement.

#Corruption#Elections#Trade
IRS

Source Intelligence

- Deep dive into what was said in the episodes

The Tucker Carlson Show
The Tucker Carlson Show

Tucker Carlson

Tucker Responds to the Israel Lobby Defeating Thomas Massie and Killing MAGA • May 21

  • Carlson recalls Miriam Adelson bypassing security and entering Trump's inauguration church service ahead of everyone else. He saw this as an early sign of foreign influence priorities displacing domestic ones.
  • Carlson and Charlie Kirk believed Trump’s core promise was that the U.S. government should serve American citizens exclusively. They thought this would reshape the Republican Party toward figures like Thomas Massie.
  • Trump’s pivot to covering up the Epstein files and cheerleading a regime-change war in Iran represented a 180-degree shift from his America First campaign promises, which Carlson calls a 'cold-hearted globalist betrayal.'
  • Carlson argues Jeffrey Epstein's 2019 arrest and murder under Trump's Attorney General Barr, combined with unexplained financial windfalls like a $30 million Powerball win, symbolize a rigged, two-tier justice system.
  • Carlson cites an Israeli newspaper headline calling the Kentucky primary 'the most consequential Republican primary for Israel,' proving foreign interests directly shape U.S. elections.
  • AIPAC publicly celebrated defeating Massie, tweeting 'pro-Israel Americans are proud to help defeat anti-Israel candidates.' Carlson says this admission confirms a foreign lobby dictates U.S. politics.
  • Pollster Rich Baris says the Kentucky primary saw over $35 million spent, making it the most expensive House primary ever. Massie was clobbering his opponent with millennials 3-to-1 before the money influx.
  • Baris notes Republican boomers drove Massie’s defeat, while younger voters who supported Trump feel their presidency was hijacked by foreign policy. This generational split is fracturing the MAGA coalition.
  • Baris states the Epstein cover-up and the Iran war were a 'one-two combo' that broke MAGA's bond with Trump. Post-July 2025, Republican generic ballot polling flipped from a lead to an 11-point deficit.
  • Baris argues the Israel-first donor class doesn’t care which party controls Congress; they only need a bipartisan majority to preserve the special relationship and foreign aid spigot.
Also from this episode: (3)

Politics (3)

  • Thomas Massie was the only Republican in Congress who never took money from the Israeli lobby. His principled stance was opposing all foreign aid, especially to Israel, due to the U.S. debt crisis.
  • Carlson says Trump’s Justice Department, led by Leo Terrell, is conducting a multi-city 'anti-antisemitism' tour, effectively criminalizing criticism of Israel as hate speech.
  • Baris observes that voters never prioritized stopping Iran’s nuclear program. Foreign policy has ranked 7th in importance throughout Trump’s term, with over 60% feeling the administration is too focused abroad.
#Elections#Diplomacy#Middle East#Macro
Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar
Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar

5/20/26: Bibi Begs Trump For Iran War, JD Savaged Over Slush Fund, Massie Defeated, AIPAC Blown Out In PA • May 20

  • Iran and the US exchanged proposals: Trump sent an 11-point plan; Iran added three points and demanded US military withdrawal from the Gulf, lifting oil restrictions, and Iranian control of Hormuz.
  • Iran agreed to a significant years-long pause in uranium enrichment, but Lindsey Graham and his allies slammed any potential deal that included sanctions relief.
  • Trump is reportedly demanding Congress fund a billion-dollar ballroom and security complex, holding up ICE and CBP funding as leverage.
  • Trump settled a lawsuit with the IRS to create a $1.776 billion 'Truth and Justice Fund' for compensating people wronged by federal prosecutions, including himself, his family, and January 6 participants.
  • Trump traded more stocks in Q1 2024 than all members of Congress combined for the entire year, often buying shares of companies he would publicly promote.
  • JD Vance dismissed the stock trading issue, arguing Trump uses wealth advisors and wants to ban congressional stock trading, but the timing of trades suggests coordination.
  • Thomas Massie lost his Kentucky primary after $30 million, largely from pro-Israel groups like AIPAC and donors Paul Singer and Miriam Adelson, was spent against him.
  • Chris Rabb defeated establishment candidates Sharif Street and Ala Stanford in a Philadelphia congressional primary, overcoming over $3 million in AIPAC-linked spending.
  • A new pro-Palestine PAC called American Priorities spent nearly $500,000 supporting Chris Rabb, while Working Families Party spent $500,000 attacking Sharif Street.
  • Ala Stanford's campaign imploded after she could not answer who should enforce immigration laws if ICE is abolished, stating enforcement 'belongs with Congress.'
Also from this episode: (3)

War (2)

  • Amid Siegel reports Netanyahu and Trump held a 'lengthy and dramatic' call where Netanyahu demanded striking Iran, believing a deal is impossible, while Trump sought more time for diplomacy.
  • Trump repeatedly shifts deadlines for action against Iran, suggesting he is politically aware that a hot conflict is disastrous and prefers procrastination.

Politics (1)

  • JD Vance defended the fund, arguing it would correct wrongful prosecutions and be evaluated case-by-case, while Trump claimed it reimburses those 'horribly treated'.
#Corruption#War#Elections#Regulation

5/19/26: Trump $1.8 Billion Slush Fund For Allies, Students Boo AI At Graduation, Kars4Kids Scandal Erupts • May 19

  • Donald Trump dropped a lawsuit against the IRS, initiating a settlement that created an "Anti-Weaponization Fund" of taxpayer dollars. The fund aims to compensate individuals politically targeted for prosecution.
  • Krystal and Saagar contend that the fund is intended to benefit Donald Trump's allies, including January 6th participants and individuals prosecuted during previous administrations, raising concerns about direct government payouts without a clear process.
  • Saagar criticizes the administration for dropping fraud charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, involving allegations of hundreds of millions in bribes to secure deals in India. US jurisdiction applied due to misleading US investors.
  • Krystal and Saagar argue that inconsistent application of fraud laws, pardoning wealthy individuals while prosecuting others, erodes public trust in the rule of law and the social safety net.
  • A California court banned Cars for Kids advertisements in the state after finding the charity violated false advertising laws. The lawsuit, filed in 2021, revealed donations did not go to underprivileged children in California as implied.
  • Testimony in the Cars for Kids case showed that out of $45 million raised annually, 60% went to Aura, a New Jersey-based Orthodox Jewish organization that funded adult matchmaking, teen trips to Israel, and summer camps, with 16.5 million used to buy a building in Israel.
  • Benjamin Netanyahu publicly stated that Israel controls "60% of the strip" in Gaza and implied further expansion, boasting about retrieving hostages without ceding territory and noting his corruption trial was again delayed for security reasons.
Also from this episode: (7)

Politics (2)

  • Saagar highlights the unusual nature of the Anti-Weaponization Fund, noting that similar compensation funds, like the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund, are typically created by Congress, not through an executive settlement.
  • Saagar reports that at least 33 pardoned January 6th individuals faced other criminal charges, including DUI, felonies for threats, and child sex crimes, with some allegedly reoffending after receiving pardons.

Big Tech (1)

  • A federal court rejected Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI on a technicality, stating the statute of limitations had run. Musk alleged OpenAI abandoned its original non-profit, open-source mission by becoming a for-profit entity.

Society (2)

  • Recent college graduates booed commencement speakers who discussed AI, reflecting widespread skepticism, especially among young people, about AI's impact on the job market and their future.
  • Polling shows 70% of Americans believe AI is developing too quickly, with over 50% holding negative views. Only 18% of young people express hope about AI, largely due to concerns about job displacement.

AI & Tech (1)

  • Ken Griffin, a top financier, noted that AI tools have profoundly increased productivity in the past nine months, automating work that previously took weeks or months for highly skilled professionals into hours or days.

War (1)

  • A report from Haaretz claimed ICC prosecutors were seeking arrest warrants for Israeli officials Ben Gvir and Smotrich for alleged war crimes, though the ICC disputed this report. Warrants were previously issued for Netanyahu and Gallant.
#Corruption#Agents#Macro
The Daily
The Daily

Trump’s Taxpayer-Funded Plan • May 20

  • The Trump administration is establishing a $1.776 billion taxpayer-funded Justice Department account to compensate self-described victims of government 'weaponization' and 'lawfare'.
  • President Trump dropped a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS after a federal judge questioned its legitimacy due to his control over both the plaintiff and defendant sides of the case.
  • The fund's creation was linked to the leak of Trump's tax returns. IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn pleaded guilty in 2023 and was sentenced to prison in 2024 for leaking the information to the New York Times and ProPublica.
  • As part of the deal to drop his lawsuit, the IRS will drop any audits of Trump, his family, and his businesses, potentially allowing him to avoid tax bills that could exceed $100 million.
  • Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche claimed the fund is not limited to Republicans or January 6th defendants, but Democrats in Congress accused the administration of creating a 'political slush fund' for rewarding allies.
  • Even some Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, expressed skepticism, indicating Congress may scrutinize the fund's legitimacy and the administration's need to answer questions about it.
  • The top lawyer at the Treasury Department resigned hours after the fund's creation, with initial reporting suggesting the move was linked to objections over the arrangement.
Also from this episode: (2)

Politics (2)

  • The fund's $1.776 billion figure is a symbolic reference to the year of the nation's founding. Its administrators will be five people appointed by the Attorney General, Todd Blanche.
  • Potential beneficiaries include the nearly 1,600 rioters charged in the January 6th Capitol insurrection, particularly those pardoned by Trump who claim they were improperly investigated for being his supporters.
#Corruption#Elections#Politics

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