{"id":209,"date":"2026-05-26T10:36:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T10:36:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=209"},"modified":"2026-05-26T10:36:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T10:36:26","slug":"whatley-backs-trumps-1-8b-anti-weaponization-fund-despite-gop-revolt-on-capitol-hill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=209","title":{"rendered":"Whatley backs Trump\u2019s $1.8B \u2018anti-weaponization fund\u2019 despite GOP revolt on Capitol Hill"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) has been one of the most outspoken Republican critics of President Donald Trump\u2019s controversial $1.8 billion \u201canti-weaponization fund\u201d to compensate Trump supporters who were prosecuted by former President Joe Biden\u2019s Department of Justice.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=207\">Trump administration will make green card hopefuls return to home countries before applying<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But the Republican nominee to succeed him, Michael Whatley, said he emphatically supports Trump\u2019s proposal.<\/p>\n<p>Asked at a Brunswick County GOP event on Wednesday if he will be on the president\u2019s side on the fund, which has faced fierce objections from senators on both sides of the aisle, Whatley committed to doing so in remarks first reported by Punchbowl News.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will be because I have been with him since 2015,\u201d Whatley said on an audio recording of the event. \u201cWe\u2019ll see how they implement it and what they\u2019re going to do with it. I mean, they overstretched with the ridiculous persecution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A spokesman for Whatley did not respond to a request for comment on the candidate\u2019s statements.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Stein: Whatley\u2019s ties to Trump \u2018not a positive\u2019 in North Carolina\u2019s upcoming US Senate election<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"pYkC9vKUir\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"282\" marginheight=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" scrolling=\"no\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/ncnewsline.com\/briefs\/stein-whatleys-ties-to-trump-not-a-positive-in-north-carolinas-upcoming-us-senate-election\/embed\/#?secret=vlsVn2NstS#?secret=pYkC9vKUir\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cStein: Whatley\u2019s ties to Trump \u2018not a positive\u2019 in North Carolina\u2019s upcoming US Senate election\u201d \u2014 NC Newsline\" width=\"500\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The fund, which is the result of a settlement between Trump and his own Department of Justice over the leaking of his tax returns during his first term, led Senate Republicans to scuttle plans for a vote to fund ICE and the U.S. Border Patrol on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Of particular concern to Senate Republicans was the prospect of payouts for Jan. 6 rioters, which prompted a lawsuit from Capitol police officers who served on that day against the Trump administration to halt the fund.<\/p>\n<p>Tillis invoked those concerns after a meeting with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche according to reporting by CNN, calling the fund a \u201cpayout pot for punks\u201d and \u201cstupid on stilts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=205\">NC Budget and Tax Center director Alexandra Sirota on the problematic new constitutional amendments<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnder what circumstances would it ever make sense to provide restitution for people who either pled guilty or were found guilty in a court of law?\u201d Tillis said. \u201cI mean, my God, do you see where this would head? These people don\u2019t deserve restitution \u2014 they, many of them, deserve to be in prison.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But throughout the 2026 primaries, Trump has made it clear there can be no room for daylight between members of his party and himself, especially when it comes to his personal convictions.<\/p>\n<p>Two of Trump\u2019s top critics, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), lost primaries to Trump-endorsed challengers in the past week, and Tillis dropped his own reelection bid shortly after breaking with the president on his \u201cOne Big, Beautiful Bill\u201d last summer.<\/p>\n<p>Friday morning, Trump took a shot at Tillis in a Truth Social post over his criticism of the fund, calling the senator \u201cweak and ineffective.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I told him that I would not, under any circumstances, endorse him for another run, too much work and drama (he couldn\u2019t have won, anyway!), he immediately quit the race and publicly announced that he was going to \u2018retire.\u2019 I said, \u2018Wow, great news, that was easy!\u2019\u201d Trump wrote. \u201cNow he can have all the fun he wants for a few months, with some of his RINO friends, screwing the Republican Party. In the end it will only get bigger, and better, and stronger, than ever before!!!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Speaking last December at a rally in Rocky Mount alongside Whatley, his endorsed candidate in the primary, Trump riffed on his lawsuit against the federal government.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s never been a case like this. Donald Trump sues the United States of America, Donald Trump becomes president, and now Donald Trump has to settle the suit,\u201d Trump told a crowd of supporters to laughter. \u201cI hereby give myself one billion dollars \u2014 actually, maybe I shouldn\u2019t give it to charity, maybe I should keep the money.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h4>Help us cover the 2026 election in North Carolina<\/h4>\n<p>As a nonprofit newsroom, our articles are free for everyone to access. Readers like you make that possible. Can you help sustain our watchdog reporting today?<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=203\">Data center battles started in the states. Now it\u2019s Congress under siege.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<button>SUPPORT<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whatley said he supports a $1.8 billion \u201canti-weaponization fund\u201d\u00a0to compensate Trump supporters prosecuted by the Department of Justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Whatley backs Trump\u2019s $1.8B \u2018anti-weaponization fund\u2019 despite GOP revolt on Capitol Hill - North Carolina Moving Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=209\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Whatley backs Trump\u2019s $1.8B \u2018anti-weaponization fund\u2019 despite GOP revolt on Capitol Hill - North Carolina Moving Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Whatley said he supports a $1.8 billion \u201canti-weaponization fund\u201d\u00a0to compensate Trump supporters prosecuted by the Department of Justice.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=209\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North Carolina Moving Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-26T10:36:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=209#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=209\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/50abdfd1c54064e8e5f9557bc46a5ed2\"},\"headline\":\"Whatley backs Trump\u2019s $1.8B \u2018anti-weaponization fund\u2019 despite GOP revolt on Capitol Hill\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-26T10:36:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=209\"},\"wordCount\":714,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=209#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/7e331760e948c9f784113e3193518b83.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=209#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=209\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=209\",\"name\":\"Whatley backs Trump\u2019s $1.8B \u2018anti-weaponization fund\u2019 despite GOP revolt on Capitol Hill - 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