Donald Trump stopped short of ruling out using federal funds to compensate rioters charged with assaulting police officers during the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack, saying in a Sunday television interview that if it were up to him, he would pay them.
Speaking on NBC News' Meet the Press, Trump defended what his administration calls an "anti-weaponization" fund while responding to host Kristen Welker's direct question about whether taxpayer money should go to people who attacked law enforcement during the breach. Trump initially said he wouldn't be inclined to do so, then immediately reversed course.
"Well, look, if it was up to me, I'd pay them the kind of money that they deserve. People have been destroyed. Lives have been destroyed," Trump said.
The nearly $1.8 billion fund remains in legal limbo. A federal judge issued a temporary order on May 29 blocking the administration from establishing it while litigation proceeds. That same week, acting attorney general Todd Blanche told Congress the administration was "not moving forward with the fund, period." Trump's comments during the televised interview appeared to contradict that position.
Trump has made defending Capitol rioters a centerpiece of his legal and political strategy. On his first day back in office, he granted pardons to roughly 1,500 people connected to the attack, including those convicted of assaulting officers. Nearly 1,600 people faced charges related to the breach. By the end of the Biden administration, more than 1,100 had received sentences. More than 140 law enforcement officers were injured during the attack.
During the Sunday interview, Trump claimed without evidence that those who pleaded guilty had done so out of fear. "They pled guilty because they were frightened," he said. He also made unsubstantiated allegations about the Capitol attack itself.
The fund concept originated from a settlement after Trump sued the Internal Revenue Service over the disclosure of his tax returns.
The interview also touched on other topics. Trump complained without evidence that Tuesday's elections in California were rigged. He said the United States would pursue a deal with Iran to retrieve and destroy its high enriched uranium, and that absent such an agreement, American forces would degrade Iran's military capacity enough to seize the material themselves.
Trump ended the interview abruptly, accusing NBC News of bias before walking off the set.
Author James Rodriguez: "The President's refusal to definitively exclude compensation for officers' attackers shows how far he's willing to stretch the bounds of executive power to fulfill his campaign promises to the January 6 crowd."
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