Former CNN anchor Jim Acosta has demanded that he be eligible to apply for President Donald Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” compensation scheme.
Writing on his Substack, the network’s former chief White House correspondent suggested that he has a “pretty good case” after frequently coming under attack from Trump during his first term.
In a satirical letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche, Acosta noted how the first Trump administration actively took steps to “destroy my career,” and therefore he should be able to get “some cold, hard ‘slush fund cash.’”
Acosta pointed to a particularly damning incident in 2018 when his press pass was revoked by the White House after he confronted Trump about his comments regarding a migrant caravan. The president claimed the caravan heading from Central America to the border amounted to an “invasion” despite it being hundreds of miles away.
During a heated exchange at a news conference, Trump called Acosta “a rude, terrible person” and the “enemy of the people.”
“Perhaps you saw it on TV? As I attempted to ask a question of the president, who was blowing his top, a White House intern tried to grab the microphone out of my hand. It was, in a word, intense,” Acosta wrote to Blanche, who just so happened to be Trump’s former personal lawyer.
“Later that evening, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders falsely said I had placed my ‘hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern.’ A lie, to be sure.”
Later that day, Sanders posted what Acosta described as a “deepfake” video that he said had been sped up to make it appear as though he had “karate chopped” the intern.
CNN also had to file a lawsuit against the Trump administration to regain his press credentials. Acosta’s media pass was returned to him just over a week later.
“Happy ending, right? Wrong. On the same day of the judge’s decision, I received a death threat that prompted round-the-clock security for me and my family,” Acosta wrote.
“More threats and violent comments flooded in during the coming weeks, forcing my employer at that time to hire bodyguards to accompany me at Trump rallies so I could continue my reporting.”
Acosta said he believes he should be eligible to receive $5 million from Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund grift, even though he did not “beat up any cops” as some Jan. 6 rioters did.
“Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Acosta wrote, mimicking the president’s favorite sign-off.
Acosta, who gained a reputation for antagonistic questioning of Trump during his first term, left CNN in January 2025 just as Trump returned to the White House.
In a typical tirade on Truth Social, Trump praised Acosta’s rumored departure from his most hated news network as “really good news.”
“Jim is a major loser who will fail no matter where he ends up,” Trump added. “Good luck Jim!”
