As this week got underway, the Trump administration made an unexpected announcement: It had agreed to back off plans for a $1.766 billion compensation fund, which had been condemned by members of both parties as a “slush fund.” A day later, during congressional testimony, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed that the scheme was no more.
“We’re not moving forward with the fund. Period,” he told a House Appropriations Committee panel.
The comments were clearly intended to be definitive, though one day later, his boss took the conversation in a noticeably different direction.
On Wednesday morning, The New York Post’s Miranda Devine released her latest podcast interview with Trump, including an exchange in which she asked whether the White House has “dropped” the fund. He initially replied, “No,” before suggesting that he continues to believe that Jan. 6 rioters “should be reimbursed.”
Hours later, during an unrelated Oval Office event, a reporter asked whether the fund is “dead.” Instead of answering directly, the president said the fund “was a beautiful thing” and “was the greatest thing.”
As part of the same Q&A, the Republican went on to say, in reference to the fund, “I love it. I think it’s so important.”
The mixed messages were tough to miss. Indeed, over the span of a few minutes, Trump talked about the fund in both past and present tense.