Maribel Hastings
Posted May 28, 2026
Just when we think President Donald Trump’s actions can no longer surprise us, something emerges where reality surpasses fiction. He has now announced a $1.776 billion fund from the public treasury to compensate his allies who feel they were “victims” of accusations, investigations, or even convictions during the administration of Democrat Joe Biden.
Among those “victims” are those responsible for the bloody assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, aimed at preventing the certification of Biden’s legitimate victory in the 2020 election. Individuals who, armed to the teeth, assaulted police officers and sought to lynch then-Vice President Mike Pence and other congressional leaders. They were convicted and were serving prison sentences, but Trump, after winning the 2024 election, pardoned them and has called them “patriots” and “hostages.”
The compensation, of course, does not come out of Trump’s pocket but from U.S. taxpayers. The same taxpayers who face high fuel costs due to the war against Iran started by Trump, as well as high costs for food, housing, and medical care. For them, however, there is no relief because once again, Trump proves that he is the president of his MAGA base, but not of the rest of Americans who suffer the consequences of his public policies.
This brazen idea stems from a deal Trump struck with his own government. The president sued the IRS for $10 billion over the release of his tax returns, claiming the government failed to adequately protect the information. He decided to withdraw the lawsuit in exchange for several conditions, including that $1.776 billion be allocated to a fund so that the president’s allies who feel they have been “victims” of investigations can receive “reparations.”
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche had the audacity to state the following: “The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this department’s intention to right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again.”
This is the same Department of Justice that is actively persecuting Trump’s opponents or those he perceives as his political “enemies” because they investigated him in the past, such as former FBI Director James Comey or New York Attorney General Letitia James, among others.
Aside from being an outrageous proposal that rewards criminals, it is yet another example of wasteful taxpayer spending.
Like his $1 billion ballroom at the White House, or the bottomless pit into which billions of taxpayer dollars—$170 billion—continue to be thrown in a senseless immigration policy that affects not only undocumented immigrants but also citizens and authorized residents. More than 170 U.S. citizens have been detained by ICE. And through the budget reconciliation process, Congress is preparing to grant another $70 billion to ICE and CBP without reforms to how their agents operate.
An immigration policy that cost the lives of two U.S. citizens at the hands of immigration agents in Minnesota, not to mention the dozens of immigrants who have died in detention centers that also receive taxpayer money in abundance—$45 billion to be exact—yet fail to provide adequate medical care and house immigrants, including children, in deplorable conditions.
A system that separates families and affects, in particular, American children. An analysis by the Brookings Institution found that since Trump began his second term, 400,000 immigrants have been detained in the interior of the country. This has impacted some 200,000 children who have lost at least one of their parents in the process. “Our analysis suggests that more than 145,000 U.S. citizen children have likely experienced a parent booked into detention since the administration began, with more than 22,000 of those experiencing detention of all their co-resident parents.,” the analysis states.
Furthermore, current immigration policy ignores the significant economic contributions made by immigrants, resulting in lost tax revenue and negative long-term fiscal consequences when these individuals are detained or deported.
According to the American Immigration Council (AIC), “in 2023, households headed by undocumented immigrants paid $89.8 billion in federal, state, and local taxes.” If they stop paying taxes out of fear of being located or deported, the United States would lose between $147 billion and $479 billion over the next 10 years, according to the Yale Budget Lab.
And more than 70% of those detained and eventually deported have no criminal record, unlike the rioters from January 6, 2021, whom Trump now wants to compensate with public funds.
Maribel Hastings is a Senior Advisor to América’s Voice.
- President Undermines Democracy Using Public Funds - May 28, 2026
- ICE And CBP Continue To Cause Enormous Harm, ‘Discreetly’ - May 15, 2026
- TPS: The Largest De-Legalization Goes Before the Supreme Court - May 8, 2026
