Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday the Justice Department was “not moving forward” with the $1.8 billion fund.
President Donald Trump is expected to nominate acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to the position in a permanent capacity as soon as Wednesday evening, according to several reports. Blanche has led the Justice Department in an acting capacity since former Attorney General Pam Bondi’s firing in April. Blanche also once served as a personal lawyer […]
President Trump has expanded military operations across multiple regions during his second term, with U.S. forces targeting drug-smuggling boats in the eastern Pacific even as American and Iranian officials pursue a peace deal.Why it matters: Trump's expanding military operations are testing whether his America First doctrine can accommodate a growing U.S. military footprint overseas.Andrew Latham, a political science professor at Macalester College in Minnesota, tells Axios that Trump "launched these campaigns because he sees military force differently from the way the Bush-era foreign policy establishment saw it."It's not about refashioning societies into America's image, Latham says. Instead, it fits Trump's view of politics: "threats are personal, borders matter, weakness invites contempt, and force is useful when it produces a visible result."What they're saying: "All of President Trump's actions have put America First and made our homeland safer," White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a Sunday-evening email."There is nothing more America First than eliminating the threat of a nuclear Iran, stopping illicit drugs from entering our country, and killing terrorists who want to murder Americans."Here's where Trump has sent the U.S. military:Latin America and surrounding watersOn June 3, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking… pic.twitter.com/wCHvnSJf3O— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) June 4, 2026 An estimated 207 people have died in U.S. strikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since September, when the Trump administration announced it had killed 11 members of the Tren de Aragua drug cartel near Venezuela.The latest: U.S. Southern Command said Wednesday night that a strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific had killed two people it described as "male narco-terrorists."SOUTHCOM announced three deaths from a boat strike in the same region last weekend.In Caracas in January, the U.S. military captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. Maduro pleaded not guilty to charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy and is in pre-trial detention in New York.What we're watching: There's been a military buildup near Cuba in recent weeks as Trump presses for political change, though Axios' Marc Caputo reports the president would prefer a peaceful transition.Middle EastThe Middle East has been a key focus of Trump's military operations — retaliatory airstrikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen in March 2025, killing a key ISIS leader in Iraq during the same period, and striking ISIS targets in Syria in December.The U.S. has twice attacked Iran during Trump's second term. Zoom in: In June 2025, Trump directed U.S. forces to join Israel in bombing Iran during a 12-day war that targeted Iranian nuclear sites.In February, U.S. and Israeli forces again launched strikes, and Tehran responded with retaliatory attacks against American allies across the Middle East.The U.S. and Iran have since clashed in the Strait of Hormuz, as negotiations to end the war continue.AfricaSomalia was the first country the U.S. military struck after Trump returned to office. Operations there have continued, with at least 63 joint airstrikes targeting ISIS and al-Shabaab this year.U.S. and Nigerian officials have cooperated in striking ISIS targets on several occasions.Trump cited the persecution of Christians in Nigeria as a justification for the strikes, though Nigerian officials say Islamic extremist groups are also attacking Muslims.The bottom line: Trump "ran against endless wars, failed occupations, democracy-promotion, and the habit of spending American blood and treasure on other people's political fantasies," Latham says."Blowing up a target connected to drugs, terrorism, or Iran's nuclear program can be sold as homeland defense. The difficulty begins when the strike is no longer a strike but a campaign," he says. "America First can justify a sharp use of force. It has a much harder time justifying drift."Go deeper: Trump allies renew Greenland, Canada takeover talk
The DOJ said it was abandoning plans for the fund, which critics feared would be used to give taxpayer money to Jan. 6 rioters, but plans to bar the I.R.S. from auditing Trump’s past tax returns remain.
President Donald Trump gave Republicans another reason to pull their hair out on Wednesday after he refused to confirm whether he would pursue a controversial move that has received a lot of blowback. Trump has teased establishing a $1.776 billion fund to pay people who claim that they were wrongfully prosecuted by the government. The fund would have been established as part of a settlement of a private lawsuit Trump filed against the IRS in 2019 over his leaked tax returns. The fund received blowback after several of Trump's allies said they would seek restitution. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told Congress repeatedly on Tuesday that the administration was abandoning the fund. But Trump refused to confirm that plan when asked during a press gaggle on Wednesday, which seemed to spook some Republicans, according to CNN's Manu Raju. "This is just another example where Republicans want to pull their hair out on Capitol Hill," Raju told Kaitlan Collins on "The Source." "A perfectly laid plan, so they thought, until Trump comes out and says something else and completely cuts their legs from underneath them."
President Donald Trump is expected to nominate Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for the role as early as Wednesday night, CNN's Kristen Holmes reported, citing a source familiar with the decision.Blanche has been serving as the acting AG since Pam Bondi was ousted in April. Blanche, who is Trump's former defense attorney, has overseen several high-profile events, including the attempted creation of a $1.776 billion fund to pay people who claimed they had been wrongfully prosecuted by the government. The report also comes just a day after Blanche attended a contentious hearing before the House Appropriations Committee, where he faced sharp questions about the Department of Justice's handling of the Epstein files. At one point, committee chair Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) cut off Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) as she questioned Blanche.
On the early edition of Balance of Power, Bloomberg Washington Correspondents Joe Mathieu and Kailey Leinz discuss the latest news from the Trump Administration. On today's show, Stonecourt Capital Partner Rick Davis, Harvard Kennedy School Ash Center Visiting Democracy Fellow Jeanne Sheehan Zaino, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Massachusetts Congressman Jake Auchincloss. (Source: Bloomberg)
Stunning rebuke to president as lawmakers vote 215-208 for measure forcing him to seek congressional approvalThe US House of Representatives delivered a stunning rebuke to Donald Trump over his war on Iran on Wednesday, as representatives backed a move to force him to seek approval from Congress or withdraw US forces.The House voted 215 to 208 in favor of the war powers resolution, as four Republicans voted with Democrats. The dissident Republicans were Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Warren Davidson of Ohio and Tom Barrett of Michigan. Continue reading...
Vote sends resolution to the US Senate, where the chamber must promptly take up the measure under law – key US politics stories from Wednesday, 3 June at a glanceThe US House of Representatives delivered a stunning rebuke to Donald Trump over his war on Iran on Wednesday, as representatives backed a move to force him to seek approval from Congress or withdraw US forces.The House voted 215 to 208 in favor of the war powers resolution, as four Republicans voted with Democrats. The dissident Republicans were Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Warren Davidson of Ohio and Tom Barrett of Michigan. Continue reading...