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Monday Afternoon News Updates: Trump's Robbery in Plain Sight — 5/18/26

While American families struggle with surging inflation, Trump's DOJ is handing $1.776 billion in taxpayer money to January 6th criminals and MAGA loyalists.

Ben Meiselas and MeidasTouch Network May 18 ∙

Hi all, Ben here. It’s Monday, and we need to start today with what may be one of the most brazen acts of corruption this administration — or any administration, quite frankly — has ever committed.

Top stories we’re tracking today:

• The DOJ creates a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” a taxpayer-funded slush fund for January 6th insurrectionists and MAGA loyalists

• Putin arrives in Beijing tonight to sign ~40 agreements with China, including a declaration on a multipolar world

• Iran launches the Persian Gulf Strait Authority along with a corresponding social media account, formalizing official control over the Strait of Hormuz

• Trump posts delusional social media fantasy about Iranian surrender while real negotiations collapse

• CPI inflation on track to hit 5% this year

• Trump’s special envoy to Greenland, the governor of Louisiana, makes a surprise appearance in the country

• Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense, is out on the campaign trail in Kentucky today, in clear violation of the Hatch Act

• Democrats hit their highest generic ballot lead ever — plus 11 — as Trump’s approval hits a historic low

Before I go any further, if you haven’t yet joined as a paid subscriber, consider doing so now by clicking here to support our work. This is how we grow. If you’re already a Meidas+ paid Substack subscriber, thank you for your support of pro-democracy media!

Let’s get into it.

The $1.776 billion slush fund that is possibly the biggest presidential scandal of all time

This is one of the most corrupt things this administration has done — and the bar is extraordinarily high at this point. Let me actually broaden that. This is one of the most brazen acts of corruption this administration administration has ever committed in history.

The Justice Department announced today the creation of something called the “Anti-Weaponization Fund.” Here is what it actually is: Trump filed a personal lawsuit against the IRS. A federal judge was about to investigate whether the case was collusive — essentially, whether Trump was suing his own government to force taxpayers to pay him. So before that investigation could proceed, the Trump regime dismissed the case and simultaneously used the settlement as justification to create a $1.776 billion fund controlled by the Attorney General, with commission members appointed by and removable by the President himself.

That money, your tax dollars, will now be distributed to January 6th insurrectionists and anyone else the Trump regime decides was a “victim of weaponization.” Todd Blanche, Trump’s former criminal defense attorney, is now the one running this fund. The recipients will not be made public (unless they brag about it on social media, I guess)

They’re comparing this to the Keepseagle settlement, which provided relief to Native American farmers who suffered decades of documented, systemic discrimination by the federal government. That comparison is obscene. Keepseagle was a genuine civil rights remedy. This is a president using the Justice Department to reward the people who violently attacked the U.S. Capitol, beat police officers, and tried to overturn an election and making every American taxpayer foot the bill. Republicans in Congress will say nothing. Not a word.

They are robbing the American people in plain sight. This should be one of the biggest scandals in American history, and we are going to keep covering it until the people responsible are held accountable.

Putin and Xi are signing ~40 deals. Trump got zero.

Now to the humiliation unfolding in real time on the world stage.

Vladimir Putin arrives in Beijing tonight, where he and Xi Jinping are expected to sign approximately 40 written agreements. Forty. They are adopting a joint declaration on the formation of a multipolar world and a new type of international relations. They’re discussing the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline. Trade between the two countries hit nearly $240 billion last year and has been almost entirely shifted to rubles and yuan, structurally protected, they say, from U.S. influence. Oil exports from Russia to China jumped 35% in just the first quarter of this year.

Think about what that means. Trump flew to the Middle East, made grand proclamations, and Xi Jinping gave him nothing. No real deals, no strategic wins. Xi looked Trump in the face and essentially said: the United States is a nation in decline. And Trump nodded along. Now Xi and Putin are formalizing a new world order together, one explicitly designed to diminish American global influence, and they’re signing the paperwork to prove it.

The declaration itself, “on the formation of a multipolar world,” is a direct message to Washington. It’s not subtle. Russia and China are telling the world that the era of American dominance is over. Heck, Xi said it to Trump’s face when he was in Beijing. And Trump is over here posting deranged surrender fantasies on Truth Social.

Iran formalizes its control over the Strait

While Trump posts memes, Iran continues to make moves in reality.

Iran has officially launched the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, a new governmental body asserting full legal control over navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. They’ve created a corresponding social media account, declared that passage through the strait now requires coordination with Iranian authorities, and made clear that ships transiting without permission will be considered in violation of Iranian law.

They’ve also launched something called “Hormuz Safe,” a Bitcoin-backed insurance service for shipping companies that want to transit the strait. They’re projecting $10 billion in revenue from it.

This is the country Trump claimed to have defeated. The country whose navy he said is “resting at the bottom of the sea.” The Islamic Republic is not only still standing. It is now the gatekeeper of one of the most critical shipping lanes on the planet, and it is charging for the privilege of passage.

Trump’s social media fantasies vs. reality

Here’s what Trump actually posted this morning: a lengthy fantasy about Iran’s military walking out of Tehran with their hands up, shouting “I surrender,” waving white flags, signing “documents of surrender.” It reads like something a 12-year-old would write after losing a video game.

Meanwhile, the real-world situation is this: Iran rejected the latest U.S. framework, which demanded they hand over 400 kilograms of enriched uranium, limit themselves to one nuclear facility, and accept a 25% withholding of their frozen assets, all before the U.S. would even discuss ending the war. Iran’s position is equally firm: full return of frozen funds, U.S. war compensation, and an end to hostilities before nuclear talks begin. Neither side is moving.

A senior U.S. official told Axios that if Iran doesn’t engage meaningfully on the nuclear program, the next conversation will happen “through bombs.” The New York Times is reporting that U.S. and Israeli officials are making their most intensive military preparations since the ceasefire.

Let’s be honest about what happened here. Trump declared a ceasefire unilaterally after threatening to bomb Iran into oblivion. He reposted Iran’s own framework from their foreign minister. He briefly accepted their terms to halt the fighting. Then he pretended he never agreed to anything. Now he’s demanding total surrender from a country that still controls its nuclear program, its ballistic missiles, its Shaheed drones, and the Strait of Hormuz — and acting confused when they won’t comply.

You either escalate this into a full-scale war with catastrophic consequences for the global economy, or you make concessions. There is no third option where Iran capitulates because of a Truth Social post. The entire world sees this. Iran sees it. Their foreign ministry literally posted an AI-generated mockery of Trump as a circus ringleader surrounded by his own unhinged meme posts. China sees it. Russia sees it. Our allies see it.

Bullying allies while enemies sign deals

When Trump comes home feeling like the weakling he is, his go-to move is to bully allies.

Elbridge Colby, the Under Secretary at the Department of Defense, announced this morning that the U.S. is “pausing” the Permanent Joint Board on Defense with Canada. His message was Canada hasn’t been spending enough on defense, so we’re downgrading the relationship. The same Canada that Trump has spent months trying to humiliate, calling the 51st state, attacking economically, alienating culturally. You abuse a neighbor for a year and then act shocked when they start looking toward Europe instead of Washington.

Meanwhile, Trump’s envoy to Greenland, the Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, has arrived on the island to pressure its government into accepting a deal that would give the U.S. permanent military basing rights, veto power over major foreign investments, and control over the territory’s vast natural resources. Greenlandic officials are reportedly terrified these demands would limit their sovereignty for generations. Secret talks are now underway because Trump manufactured a crisis by threatening to seize a sovereign territory belonging to an ally.

China gets a new world order declaration. Russia gets 40 trade deals. Canada gets humiliated. Greenland gets the governor of Louisiana showing up to threaten them. This is Trump’s foreign policy.

Inflation keeps getting hotter

We told you this was coming, and people called us hyperbolic. CPI inflation is now on track to hit 5% this year, possibly as high as 5.2% by the November midterms. That would be more than double the February 2026 reading. Monthly inflation has been running hot, and the trend lines are not improving. PPI wholesale prices are already running at 6%.

People cannot afford groceries. They cannot afford gas. Credit card delinquencies are rising. Student loan delinquencies are rising. The economic pain is real and it is accelerating. Trump’s big priority today, by the way, is reportedly adding a helipad to the White House South Lawn because the new Marine One helicopters might damage the grass.

The American people are paying attention

Here’s where we leave things today. The latest Siena poll has Democrats up 11 points on the generic ballot, 50% to 39%. That is the highest lead Democrats have ever recorded in that poll. It matches similar numbers in a recent AtlasIntel poll. Trump’s approval rating has hit its lowest point ever, sitting at minus 22.

The American people are watching. They see the corruption. They see the inflation. They see the foreign policy disasters. They see a man who lost a war, lost the respect of the world, and is now using taxpayer money to reward his criminal allies while families struggle to pay their bills.

We’ll keep you updated every step of the way. Ron Filipkowski’s daily bulletin with all the news and a new episode of Ask the Editor is coming later today, so keep a look out. Thanks, everyone.