Since acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the death of the $1.776 billion 'anti-weaponization' fund on June 3, Trump has made clear Blanche is his guy for the permanent AG job.

In an interview broadcast Wednesday on Pod Force One, Trump said of Blanche: "I think he will" become permanent AG. "He's a very talented guy," Trump added, calling his acting AG's performance "very good."

Blanche only got the acting job in April after Trump fired Pam Bondi.

The Fund Is Dead. The Immunity Is Not.

Blanche didn't just kill a controversial fund. He confirmed — at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on June 3 — that the administration is keeping the rest of the settlement from Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS. That includes a provision barring the IRS forever from pursuing "any and all claims" regarding past tax filings against Trump, his sons, and his businesses.

According to The Fiscal Times, that portion of the deal could be worth roughly $100 million to Trump personally.

"Nothing has changed with that," Blanche told lawmakers, according to The Fiscal Times.

The politically explosive part — the $1.8 billion taxpayer fund — gets scrapped. The part that directly benefits the sitting president's wallet? That stays. Forever.

How the Fund Died

The original 'anti-weaponization' fund came out of a settlement Trump's team reached after dropping a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the leaking of his tax records. The fund was framed as compensation for people Trump called victims of government persecution — including January 6 defendants who'd already received presidential pardons.

The backlash was immediate and bipartisan. Senate Republicans killed a planned vote on a $70-plus billion budget reconciliation bill — covering ICE and Border Patrol funding — because the fund was attached to it. The Guardian reported that critics across the aisle condemned it as a slush fund. A court ordered the administration to halt work on the fund pending a hearing set for June 12.

On Monday, the DOJ said it would comply with the court order. On Tuesday, Blanche went further. When Democratic Rep. Grace Meng asked point-blank if the administration would never proceed with the fund, Blanche said: "Correct."

Dead. No asterisks.

What Trump Said About It Anyway

That doesn't mean Trump agrees the fund was a bad idea. On Pod Force One, he defended the original rationale: "These are people that have been decimated. There's never been anything like this, what happened to those people, and these were many great people. And I gave them pardons. I'm very proud to have given them pardons, and I think they should be reimbursed for a crooked government."

So the president still thinks the fund was justified. His acting AG killed it anyway because it was sinking Republican legislation and losing in court. That's a pragmatic retreat, not a policy reversal.

What Mainstream Coverage Is Getting Wrong

Left-leaning outlets are treating the fund's death as a win against corruption. A secret $1.8 billion taxpayer fund benefiting a president's political allies does deserve to die.

But they're spending almost no coverage on the IRS immunity piece. A permanent, court-backed agreement shielding a sitting president and his business empire from federal tax scrutiny is not a footnote. It's the main story.

Right-leaning outlets, meanwhile, are framing the fund's demise as a pragmatic course correction while cheering Trump's Blanche-as-permanent-AG signal. They're also glossing over the IRS immunity deal.

Both sides are overlooking the same thing.

Blanche's DOJ Track Record

If Blanche does get the permanent job, it won't be a surprise pick — it'll be a reward. According to The Guardian, under his tenure the DOJ has filed criminal charges against former FBI Director James Comey, escalated its investigation of former CIA Director John Brennan, and quietly scrubbed press releases about prosecutions of January 6 rioters from its website.

Blanche was also, according to The Guardian, a key architect of the 'anti-weaponization' fund before killing it. Whether you call that loyalty or opportunism depends on your perspective. Either way, it worked.

What This Means for Regular People

The $1.8 billion fund is gone. The border funding bill can now move forward without that anchor dragging it down. Republicans get to vote on ICE and Border Patrol money without defending a presidential slush fund.

But the IRS deal stands. A president has negotiated permanent immunity from federal tax audits for himself and his family — and that agreement is now baked into a federal settlement. The precedent that sets is significant, regardless of which party benefits from it.

Next time a president of any party wants to use a lawsuit settlement to buy themselves regulatory immunity, they'll point to this as the template.