Stories

Browse major news stories and see what officials have said.

May 18, 2026

DOJ Creates $1.7B "Anti-Weaponization Fund"; Trump Drops IRS Lawsuit

The Trump administration's Justice Department announced the creation of a $1.776 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" on May 18, 2026, as part of a deal in which President Trump agreed to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns. The fund — formally called the "Truth and Justice Commission" — draws from the Treasury's permanent Judgment Fund and requires no new Congressional approval. It would compensate anyone claiming they were targeted by Biden-era "weaponization," including roughly 1,600 individuals charged in connection with the January 6 Capitol attack.

DOJ Scrubs January 6 Press Releases, Calls Them "Partisan Propaganda"

The Trump Justice Department removed hundreds of press releases documenting the charges, convictions, and sentencings of January 6 Capitol riot defendants from its official website on May 23, 2026, with the DOJ defending the purge as "stripping DOJ's website of partisan propaganda."

January 6

DOJ

Department of Justice

3 statements

May 20, 2026

DOJ Indicts Raúl Castro; Trump Threatens Military Action Against Cuba

On May 20, 2026, the Justice Department unsealed a superseding indictment charging former Cuban President Raúl Castro and five Cuban regime co-defendants with murder and conspiracy for ordering the 1996 shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue civilian aircraft over international waters, killing four people including three U.S. citizens. The announcement came as the USS Nimitz carrier strike group arrived in the Caribbean, and President Trump threatened he would be "the one" to intervene in Cuba. Democrats Kaine, Schiff, and Gallego responded by reintroducing a war powers resolution to block unauthorized military action.

Government Drops All Tax Claims Against Trump in Expanded IRS Settlement

A one-page settlement document posted to the DOJ website on May 19, 2026 reveals the U.S. government is "forever barred and precluded" from examining or prosecuting President Trump, his sons, and the Trump Organization on their current tax issues. The provision dramatically broadens the prior day's IRS lawsuit settlement — going far beyond Trump merely dropping his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS to the government permanently surrendering its own enforcement rights against Trump's taxes. Democrats called it unprecedented self-dealing; one Republican, Sen. Ron Johnson, backed it.

Democrats Introduce Bill to Block Trump From Collecting Federal Settlements

On April 15, 2026, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Rep. Jamie Raskin, and Rep. Dave Min introduced the Ban Presidential Plunder of Taxpayer Funds Act (S.4299), a bill to bar the President, Vice President, and their immediate family members from collecting settlement payments from the federal government while in office. The bill was a direct response to Trump's $10 billion IRS lawsuit and a prior $230 million DOJ settlement demand — and anticipated the deal that would produce the $1.7B Anti-Weaponization Fund a month later. The bill has no path forward with Republicans controlling both chambers.