In announcing whistleblower reward program, Trump again zones in on Minnesota
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Republican President Donald Trump announced Tuesday the federal government will pay whistleblowers who help identify fraud 1 percent of the total amount uncovered.
The president said the $25 million program encourages the public to report suspected fraud.
The White House said under the Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program, anyone who submits a tip to fraud.gov that leads to prosecution or a conviction is eligible to receive up to $30,000. The Justice Department will administer the program.
Trump also said he will personally decide who gets to collect reward money when more than one person claims to have provided the tip.
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Trump announced the program from the Oval Office, including several attacks against Minnesota.
That's in part because Vice President JD Vance gave YouTube commentator Nick Shirley — whose widely shared, politically charged video on fraud in Minnesota pushed the issue into the national spotlight — a $10,000 check, the first payment from the program. Several allegations made in the video were unsubstantiated.
Trump blamed DFL Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Gov. Tim Walz, a frequent target, for social services fraud cases in the state.
“Nick's work to stop taxpayers from being ripped off is a direct threat to the radical left's effort to turn America into a third world country ruled by people who hate America,” Trump said.
Since late 2022, federal prosecutors in Minnesota have charged more than 100 people with defrauding government social service programs, including Medicaid. The prosecutions started after an investigation into the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, whose leader Aimee Bock was at the center of a $300 million scheme to defraud taxpayer-funded child nutrition programs.
Shirley’s presence at the White House was a reminder of how the fraud issue directly led to the federal immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota last winter.
Operation Metro Surge began last December with an influx of hundreds of federal agents descending onto the state. But shortly after Shirley’s video was posted on Dec. 26, federal officials announced around 2,000 more agents would swarm the state.
The tactics used by agents during that time were widely criticized, leading to widespread large-scale protests. Immigration agents shot and killed two Minneapolis residents who were American citizens: Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Minnesota Republicans, including state House Speaker and governor hopeful Lisa Demuth, initially touted the Shirley video. Demuth said three days after it was posted that House Republicans aided Shirley.
“Our caucus has been working to expose fraud for years, including working with Nick Shirley and agency whistleblowers to get the information out to the public and to hold the Walz administration accountable,” she said during a Dec. 29 video press conference.
Asked on Tuesday about Shirley’s video, Demuth attempted to distance herself and the YouTuber, saying she’s never met or talked to him. She said all the material he used was publicly available.
While Demuth is campaigning on cracking down on fraud, including an announcement Tuesday that she’d immediately sign an executive order giving more protections for whistleblowers, she and other Republicans have also tried distancing themselves from Trump, whose approval ratings have fallen through election season.
Trump told Newsmax last week he is considering stopping in Minnesota before the Nov. 3 election. Both Demuth and GOP U.S. Senate nominee Michele Tafoya avoided directly answering if they’d campaign with the president.
“We haven't heard anything directly whatsoever,” Demuth said. “So, if that would become true that's when we would address that.”
Matt Sepic contributed reporting and material from the Associated Press was included in this story.
