President Donald Trump has launched a $25 million whistleblower program that will pay Americans for tips leading to fraud convictions.
The initiative, unveiled alongside Vice President JD Vance, creates a direct financial pipeline from the Department of Justice to ordinary citizens who help catch fraudsters. Vance, 40, chairs the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud that Trump established in March, and he traced the program’s origins to a conversation with the president about mobilizing public assistance for investigators.
“If you want to help us stop it, you get to share in the rewards,” Vance said.
The program will operate under the name Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program, or WHIP. Tips flow through fraud.gov, with the Justice Department administering the system. The White House fraud website lists potential rewards of up to $30,000 for information producing successful fraud convictions or significant federal enforcement actions.
“If your information leads to criminal charges, you may be eligible for up to $30,000,” the website states. It adds a caveat: “Submitting a report does not guarantee a reward.”
Trump, 79, described a more expansive framework in his remarks. He positioned himself as the final arbiter in complex cases, including disputes between rival tipsters over splitting payments. He also emphasized speed, saying successful tipsters would be paid “immediately.”
Journalists were granted explicit eligibility, subject to employer approval.
“We’re going to let the reporters partake because you know a lot of things that are happening, maybe many cases more than most others,” Trump said.
Shirley, an independent journalist, has already been designated as WHIP’s inaugural recipient with a $10,000 award. He gained national attention in December 2025 with a video examining several Somali-run daycare centers in Minnesota. The footage showed apparently empty facilities, and individuals captured on camera stated they had not observed children at the locations.
The White House attributed his reporting to triggering a substantial deployment of FBI and Department of Homeland Security resources into Minnesota, which was followed by investigations, arrests and fresh charges. Fahima Egeh Mahamud, former CEO of Future Leaders Early Learning Center, which appeared in Shirley’s video, pleaded guilty in July to wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Trump’s description of a 1% commission structure on the total fraud dollar value diverges from the website’s $30,000 cap, and the precise mechanism for resolving this discrepancy remains undefined. His personal role as “arbitrator” in complicated cases also raises unresolved questions about how political considerations might influence award determinations.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, announced a separate enforcement action alongside the whistleblower program. The administration is deferring another $1.2 billion in California Medicaid payments for personal care services.