WSJ torches Trump's 'rotten' deal as 'emblem of today's warped political age'

The Wall Street Journal's conservative editorial board torched one of Trump's latest deals in a Tuesday opinion piece.

"Could future historians ask for a better emblem of today's warped political age?" the board wrote about Trump's $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund. Trump created the fund by dismissing a lawsuit against the IRS and even secured additional protections for himself.

The WSJ denounced it as a "rotten" deal that will enrich his friends, allies, and supporters.

"The Trump family isn't eligible for payouts, but the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, are likely to apply," the board noted. "They'll be eager to explain that they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that a police officer suddenly began smashing his face into their fists."

Federal Judge Kathleen Williams, who handled the lawsuit that led to the deal creating the huge fund, "wasn't sure she had jurisdiction to hear it" because Trump oversees the IRS as president, the WSJ pointed out.

Williams set a hearing date for May 27 to settle that question, according to the WSJ, adding that "the parties seem to be working in coordination to avoid her inquiries...News reports say the Justice Department doesn't believe the agreement needs judicial approval."