The proposed Justice Department-backed fund — part of a deal for Trump to drop a $10 billion lawsuit over the leak of his tax information — would compensate people who claim unfair targeting by the federal government.
Critics, however, warn that it could function as a political slush fund.
“Could future historians ask for a better emblem of today’s warped political age?” the newspaper’s conservative editorial board, which has needled Trump on multiple issues since his return to office, asked in an essay published Tuesday.
The fund is “an astounding precedent,” it argued.
And “if it proceeds it is sure to become a highlight reel of Trump Administration payments to Mr. Trump’s friends and allies,” the board added.
It also warned: “Imagine the fun Democrats will have documenting it all between now and 2028 as the worst kind of Washington political payoff.”
Also on Tuesday, the Rupert Murdoch-owned publication’s editorial board warned that Trump may be repeating a mistake he made five years ago — one that contributed to Republicans losing control of the Senate.
Read that editorial here.