WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump this week announced a new $25 million whistleblower incentive program to provide information to combat fraud. But the program has raised concerns after Trump said he would personally determine who would get the money, seeming to bypass the traditional processes around the awarding of federal funds.

“I will be the arbitrator of all of these decisions,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “In other words, I’ll determine whether or not the person is deserving, and I’ll determine, and I will be very generous.”

Whistleblowers already receive hundreds of millions of dollars annually for reporting fraud through existing legal avenues, including filing complaints under the False Claims Act and whistleblower programs at the IRS, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Payouts under such programs are typically determined by a commission or by a federal court, not the president.

A White House spokesperson, Lauren Bis, said that “every day, President Trump’s task force to eliminate fraud is zeroing in on the rampant abuse of taxpayer dollars.” She added, “This administration has zero tolerance for individuals who steal from Americans.”

Trump’s first award, of $10,000, went to Nick Shirley, a conservative YouTube personality who promoted allegations of fraud among the Somali community in Minnesota. Trump and other Republicans have used those allegations to attack Democrats in the state.

Joe Spielberger, senior policy counsel for the Project on Government Oversight, said what Trump laid out was “not a serious anti-fraud or whistleblower incentive program.”

“The administration and their allies have continuously cited combating fraud as a cover to persecute political opponents and immigrant communities,” he said. “There is no evidence that tips generated from the public will be treated similarly and consistently investigated. This only incentivizes political provocateurs to target anyone the administration deems an enemy.”

Here is a look at the whistleblower program and Trump’s announcement.

What Is the New Program?

According to the White House, the “Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program” will be administered by the Justice Department. It would award up to $30,000 to anyone who submits a tip that leads to a successful conviction for fraud or a significant federal enforcement action.

But Trump described the program differently. The president said he would award a “1% commission” to the tipster based on the value of the fraud found.

“You, let’s say, report and you find a billion dollars; we are giving a commission to that person of 1% — a lot of money,” Trump said. “And if it’s $10 billion, $200 billion, $400 billion, we’re giving a 1% commission to that person.”

Under the president’s description, a whistleblower could receive billions of dollars personally approved by Trump.

Are There Existing Programs for Whistleblowers?

Yes, there are several programs already awarding millions annually to whistleblowers through systems approved by Congress.

Under the False Claims Act, for instance, whistleblowers file lawsuits confidentially alleging wrongdoing. The Justice Department evaluates the claims and decides whether to join them. If a settlement is reached in which the wrongdoer repays the federal government, the whistleblower receives up to 30% of the funds. Last year, after going through the court process, whistleblowers were awarded more than $330 million.

Likewise, in fiscal year 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission awarded $60 million to 48 individual whistleblowers.

What Are the Concerns About Trump’s New Program?

In announcing that he would make determinations about the payouts, Trump raised concerns that he would use the program for political purposes.

“Generally speaking, incentivizing whistleblowers is a good thing, but is this going to be manipulated for political purposes?” said Mark Greenblatt, a former inspector general for the Interior Department. “When you concentrate discretion for spending federal dollars into one person’s hands who can make unilateral decisions, you run into potential problems.”

David Rosenfeld, a law professor at Northern Illinois University and the former co-leader for enforcement at the SEC’s New York office, said there was an extensive process within the SEC for awarding whistleblower payouts, including several layers of review.

“It’s not up to one person to do it in a discretionary manner,” he said. “I’ve never heard of a program where it’s just up to the president.”

Didn’t Trump Pardon Lots of Allies Convicted of Fraud?

It’s true that Trump has not been uniformly tough on fraud. He has granted clemency to more than 70 allies, donors and others convicted in fraud cases, often involving high-dollar totals.

He has shown no such leniency with regard to the fraud cases in Minnesota, where immigrants and Democratic politicians are his political targets.

The president used the announcement of the fund to attack Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, a Democrat, as “100% guilty” and the state’s attorney general, Keith Ellison, also a Democrat, as a “total thief.” And he has portrayed the lieutenant governor of Minnesota, Peggy Flanagan, who is the Democratic nominee in a Senate race, as a “liar.”

Trump also lashed out at Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., a Somali American, suggesting she could “go to jail” and calling her a “sick, very dishonest person.”

Federal data does not support the suggestion of the president and his allies that fraud occurs more prevalently under Democrats than Republicans.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Luke Broadwater/Alex Kent
c. 2026 The New York Times Company