US judge temporarily blocks Trump-linked $1.8bn anti-weaponisation fund

A federal judge in Virginia has temporarily halted the creation and operation of a $1.8bn government fund tied to claims of political investigation. The order stops the Justice Department from taking any steps to stand up or run the fund, including processing or paying claims, until a preliminary hearing on 12 June. The move is the latest legal setback for a fund announced only last week.

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The fund was created after an agreement with President Donald Trump to end his $10bn lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. According to the court order, the Justice Department is barred from operating the fund while the case is examined further. The lawsuit challenging the arrangement was filed in Virginia by two men who said the fund was discriminatory.

They argued they had been targeted for political retribution by the Trump administration, but believed they would not be allowed to apply for compensation. The fund has already drawn criticism from Democrats and some Republicans, who have questioned whether it has explicit congressional approval and how it would be overseen. The Republican leader in the Senate, John Thune, said he was not a "big fan" of the fund and said he was unclear how claims would be processed.

The memorandum creating the fund did not set out how people would qualify for payments, although some Trump supporters prosecuted over the 6 January 2021 US Capitol riot have said they intend to seek compensation. The court action means none of those claims can be processed for now. The dispute matters because it sits at the intersection of presidential power, federal spending and the handling of politically sensitive investigations.

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The arrangement also includes a separate provision blocking the IRS from reviewing tax filings made by Trump, his family and his businesses in the past. That has added to concerns among critics that the deal could limit oversight of a major tax dispute while creating a compensation mechanism without a clear public process. The case is therefore being watched not only as a legal challenge, but also as a test of how far an administration can go in settling claims linked to allegations of political targeting.

The fund was announced as part of a broader effort by the administration to frame past investigations as examples of government "weaponisation". Supporters of the idea have argued that people who believe they were unfairly targeted should have a route to compensation. Opponents say the lack of detail in the memorandum leaves key questions unanswered, including who would qualify, who would decide, and what legal authority would govern payments.

A group of 35 former federal judges has also written to the judge who oversaw Trump's tax lawsuit, asking for a more thorough review of the deal. For now, the fund cannot be created or used until the 12 June hearing, and several related legal challenges are still being considered by federal courts. It remains unclear how the judge will rule on the broader legality of the arrangement or whether any revised process could survive further scrutiny.

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