Trump reportedly wants to use a French bank's confiscated slush fund to build the wall


President Trump is embarking on a supremely roundabout quest to build the wall.
In November, French bank Societe Generale admitted that it spent years breaking American sanctions with the U.S. and Cuba. It had to pay $1.3 billion back to the U.S., and now Trump is hoping to siphon a chunk of it for his border wall, CNBC reports.
From asking Mexico nicely to cramming funds into the national budget, Trump has tried a slew of crafty solutions to fund his promised border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. His current national emergency declaration is still standing, but the $8 billion Trump is hoping to get from that actually stems from a variety of sources. About $3.6 billion comes from military construction already authorized this year, $2.5 billion comes from seized drug profits, and $1.3 billion is from what Democrats gave Trump in the budget. The remaining $601 million, Trump reportedly hopes, will come from the Treasury Department's "asset forfeiture fund," NBC News noted.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
There's just one problem: Only $242 million of the largely off-limits forfeiture fund is available for government use right now, the administration has said. The rest — $301 billion — is from "future anticipated forfeitures," namely the Societe General deal that is still pending in court, two officials tell CNBC. Yet another source says the bank has already paid its fines, and the money has already been divvied up to other recipients, complicating Trump's reported plan.
Read more about Trump's backup border fund at CNBC.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Strava vs. Garmin: the row splitting the running community
Under The Radar The legal dispute between the two titans of exercise tech is like ‘Mom and Dad fighting’
-
Bad Bunny: Why MAGA is incensed
Feature The NFL announced Latino artist Bad Bunny as the Super Bowl halftime headliner, sparking MAGA outrage
-
Supreme Court: Judging 20 years of Roberts
Feature Two decades after promising to “call balls and strikes,” Chief Justice John Roberts faces scrutiny for reshaping American democracy
-
News organizations reject Pentagon restrictions
Speed Read The proposed policy is Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s latest move to limit press access at the Pentagon
-
Trump declares end to Gaza war, ‘dawn’ of new Mideast
Speed Read Hamas freed the final 20 living Israeli hostages and Israel released thousands of Palestinian detainees
-
Trump DOJ indicts New York AG Letitia James
Speed Read New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted as Trump’s Justice Department pursues charges against his political opponents
-
Judge blocks Trump’s Guard deployment in Chicago
Speed Read The president is temporarily blocked from federalizing the Illinois National Guard or deploying any Guard units in the state
-
Trump urges jail for Illinois, Chicago leaders
Speed Read The Texas National Guard begin operations in the Chicago area
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-off
Speed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland