A wounded Donald Trump has lashed out at his mutinying Republican Party as it threatens to derail his $1.8 billion 'slush fund' for January 6 rioters.
Trump Defends Fund on Truth Social
'I gave up a lot of money in allowing the just announced Anti-Weaponization Fund to go forward,' Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday. 'I am helping others, who were so badly abused by an evil, corrupt, and weaponized Biden Administration, receive, at long last, JUSTICE!'
GOP Rebellion Intensifies
Trump's iron grip on the Republican Party spectacularly fractured on Thursday evening with senators refusing to vote on a $70 billion funding package for ICE. Speaker Mike Johnson refused to turn up to a crisis meeting scheduled at the White House, in a striking act of rebellion by one of Trump's most reliable lieutenants.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was lashed by senators in a two-hour closed door meeting on Capitol Hill about the fund for Trump's prosecuted political allies, branded by Republicans a 'galactic blunder', 'utterly stupid' and 'morally wrong.'
Senator John Thune, already fuming over Trump's endorsement of Texas AG Ken Paxton over his ally John Cornyn, pulled the vote on ICE funding and sent lawmakers home until June 1.
The impasse leaves Trump facing one of the greatest crises over his control of the Republican Party of his second term in office, with the GOP racing to push through a stack of bills central to the President's agenda before the November midterms.
White House Summit Cancelled
A high-stakes White House summit with Speaker Mike Johnson and top GOP leaders was abruptly cancelled Thursday amid a deepening rift between the President and his own party over a $1.8 billion fund critics are openly denouncing as a 'slush fund'.
The vast majority of Senate Republicans, including normally reliable Trump loyalists like Senators Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville, confronted Blanche with grave concerns that the fund could funnel taxpayer money to rioters who assaulted police officers on January 6, 2021. Senate Majority Leader John Thune pulled the plug on the votes by sending lawmakers home until June 1.
