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Democrats: Here’s How to Beat the Trump Slush Fund

Make them fear exposure.

Jonathan V. Last's avatar
Jonathan V. Last
May 20, 2026
∙ Paid
(Photo illustration by The Bulwark / Photos: Getty, Shutterstock)

1. The Human Fund

What are we going to call Trump’s $1.776 billion taxpayer-funded payoff pot?

This might seem like a silly question, but it isn’t. This infamia needs a cultural shorthand, a brand, that gets burned into people’s brains. I am open to all suggestions.

  • Big, Beautiful Bribery Fund

  • Slush Fund from Hell

  • Trump’s Stolen $1.8b

I am in full keep-it-simple-stupid mode here. Give me your ideas. Because if political malfeasance doesn’t have a brand name, it can’t hurt you. Watergate. Iran-Contra. Whitewater. Lewinsky. Benghazi. Laptop from Hell.

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And if there’s any justice in the world, this fund should be like polonium. It should poison everyone it touches.

The problem is that it’s a complicated story—or at least more complicated than “Guy attempted a coup.” And the general public didn’t seem to care much about that thing, either.

So how do we keep this from being a one-week story that sinks beneath the waves of the next ballroom, or invasion of Cuba, or genocide threat?

I have some ideas for how Democrats can make these people pay once they get control of the House . . .

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