A Morning Shots Live episode centered on Trump’s escalating use of government power for personal and political grievance projects, especially a reported $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” settlement fund. The hosts also discussed Trump’s weakening approval, the Republican Party’s shrinking Trump coalition, and the tactical implications for the 2026 midterms.
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Andrew Egger and Bill Kristol opened with a brief, non-political acknowledgment of the mass shooting at a mosque in San Diego, emphasizing the horror of the attack, the apparent heroism of a long-serving Muslim security guard, and the importance of solidarity across religious communities. The main segment focused on a newly reported Trump-backed settlement arrangement tied to a tax-return lawsuit. The hosts described it as a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund” that would pay people who claim they were targeted by lawfare during the Biden years, but they argued the structure is unusually unaccountable, opaque, and potentially corrupt. They emphasized that the fund appears designed to be controlled by commissioners appointed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, with little or no oversight, no appeals, no judicial review, and no meaningful transparency. …
Immediately, the setup is negative for Trump and for any Trump-linked political trades: the settlement-fund story is a fresh scandal, and the approval drift is still moving the wrong way. The near-term risk is further headline acceleration rather than stabilization.
Over the next few months, the base case is continued erosion in Trump approval and a wider Republican generic-ballot deficit unless he finds a major course-correction. The key confirmation will be whether summer polling and special-election signals keep deteriorating into the fall.
Structurally, the episode argues that Trump is deepening a durable pattern of executive personalization and institutional bypass that may outlast any single controversy. For the GOP, the long-run implication is a possible split between older loyalists and younger, more volatile factions, with no guarantee the post-Trump right becomes more moderate.
Trump’s proposed anti-weaponization settlement fund is a huge, unaccountable slush fund that circumvents normal legal and budgetary processes.
The hosts repeatedly describe it as opaque, self-directed, and detached from ordinary judicial oversight.
The settlement agreement appears to block appeals, judicial review, and meaningful transparency over who receives money.
They walk through the terms and emphasize the lack of external challenge or review.
Trump’s approval has been slipping by about one point per month in 2026.
Kristol cites multiple polls and describes a steady monthly decline rather than a collapse.
Bill, can you talk a little bit about what happened with the mass shooting at a mosque in San Diego and what we know about it so far?
Bill describes that three people died, a security guard acted admirably, and notes that the official Jewish community organization of California expressed a strong statement of solidarity with the Muslim community. He says attacks on religious institutions of all kinds have occurred and it would be nice if it all stopped.
When ABC first reported that Trump was going to drop his IRS lawsuit in exchange for setting up the $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund, did you think it would actually happen or did you think maybe they'd step back from it?
Bill says he thought it would happen because in the second term, every shameless idea they have, they execute. He notes he was surprised the general counsel of Treasury resigned over it. He adds that no Republican on the Hill has objected, and the point of the second term is to keep crossing bridges to even further lawlessness.
Will individuals who assaulted Capitol Hill police officers be eligible for this fund?
The clip cuts off before Todd Blanch provides a full answer. He begins 'Well, as it makes plain, anybody just let me know' but the answer is not completed in the available transcript.
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