On Tuesday, 20 October, Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance presented the Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program at the White House. The program, which the administration calls WHIP, has a $25 million pool and is open to anyone who believes they have witnessed fraud. Tips that lead to a conviction or significant federal action can earn up to $30,000, and submissions go through the fraud.gov portal, which the Department of Justice will direct. The government website says the program places a "particular emphasis" on fraud in hospice care, home healthcare, daycares and special services. Tipsters are asked to describe what they saw or read, with names, dates, amounts or records where they have them.
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Trump appeared to set the $30,000 limit aside when he spoke to reporters. He said a tip leading to $1 billion would earn the tipster a 1 percent commission, and that the same rate would apply to findings of $10 billion, $200 billion or $400 billion. A 1 percent commission on $1 billion would exceed the $30,000 cap. The same day he said he would arbitrate disputes when several people claim credit for one tip, a remark that drew laughter from the room.
“So I am going to do something, which I think people will like, I will be the arbitrator of all of these decisions.”
It is unclear whether he was serious, and the Justice Department's website gives the department "sole discretion" over awards and how it exercises its authority under the program.
Trump presented a $10,000 award to Nick Shirley, a right-wing influencer known for investigating alleged fraud in public funds. Shirley's video from December 2025 alleged fraud at childcare centers in Minnesota run by members of the local Somali community. The White House says the video enabled a broad investigation with arrests and indictments. The video also set off a large government response, with federal immigration agents descending on the Minneapolis area and the administration freezing Minnesota's federal childcare funding. Trump praised Shirley's work at the White House, and spokeswoman Lauren Bis said:
“Every day the president's task force to eliminate fraud fights abuses against taxpayers, this administration has a zero-tolerance policy towards individuals who steal from Americans.”
Trump widely cited the Minnesota investigation to justify an arrest and deportation campaign that ICE and other federal agents carried out against the state's Somali community earlier in 2026. The campaign set off a broad protest movement among Minnesota residents. Two people were killed by ICE agents while protesting the arrests. Shirley has since visited other states, showing up unannounced at grocery stores and hospice centers to look for evidence of fraud.
Vance said the program reaches further than existing law.
“Over 99% of the fraud that we're finding in the federal government isn't covered by the False Claims Act.”
Under the False Claims Act, whistleblowers can receive 15% to 25% of financial penalties when the government intervenes and prosecutes a suit. The new program pays at an earlier investigative stage and does not require large fines or forfeiture. The announcement comes two weeks before the 3 November midterm elections, in which Democrats lead in the polls and could take control of both chambers of Congress. Gallup found that 89% of Americans consider corruption widespread, and a Fox News poll puts corruption at the top of voters' concerns. In March 2026, Trump created a task force to eliminate fraud in federal funds and aid programs.
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The White House program pays tipsters up to $30,000 for fraud leads, and its first award went to a right-wing YouTuber whose Minnesota childcare video the administration says opened a broad investigation.
AI text based on reports by The Verge, LaSexta, The Guardian and other publishers. Published .