President Donald Trump declined Sunday to rule out using nearly $1.8 billion from an “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate individuals who were charged with assaulting police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying in a television interview that he would pay “the kind of money that they deserve.”
Trump made the comments in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” with host Kristen Welker. Trump spoke in support of the fund, arguing that people who entered the Capitol while Congress was preparing to certify Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory had been treated unfairly by prosecutors and should receive compensation.
When Welker asked whether people who assaulted police officers during the attack should receive taxpayer-funded compensation, Trump responded: “I wouldn’t be inclined to say so, but I have to see it. 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.”
In total, nearly 1,600 people faced charges related to the Capitol attack, and 1,100 had received sentences by the time the Biden administration was nearing its end. More than 140 law enforcement officers suffered injuries during the Capitol attack.
Trump’s comments on the nearly $1.8 billion fund came as questions remain about whether it will move forward. On May 29, a federal judge issued a temporary order preventing the administration from establishing the fund while a lawsuit seeking to stop it is considered. On June 2, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers that the administration was “not moving forward with the fund, period.”
Despite that, during Sunday’s interview, Trump continued advocating for the fund and defending those involved in the Capitol attack. He argued that individuals who pleaded guilty had done so because they feared receiving lengthy prison sentences, saying: “They pled guilty because they were frightened.” He also made a number of unsupported allegations about the Capitol attack.
During his campaign, Trump pledged clemency for many of the Jan. 6 defendants. After returning to office, he carried out that promise on his first day by granting pardons to about 1,500 people connected to the attack, including individuals who had assaulted police officers.
The idea for the fund originated from a settlement reached after Trump sued the Internal Revenue Service over the disclosure of his tax returns.
MSI previously reported that the fund has faced mounting legal challenges, including a lawsuit from Capitol riot officers seeking to block payouts, and that a federal judge temporarily blocked the fund’s establishment on May 29.
Other parts of Trump’s “Meet the Press” conversation saw him complain without evidence that elections in California on Tuesday were rigged. He also said the United States would work with Iran to retrieve and destroy its high enriched uranium if he manages to strike a deal with Tehran to end the U.S. and Israel’s three-month war there. Trump said that in the absence of a deal, he would further degrade Iran’s military to the point that U.S. forces could safely seize the material themselves.
The president ultimately walked off the set of the interview while saying to Welker: “You’re a one-sided, crooked network. Sorry. Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time.”