A QUESTION FOR MAGA & MAGA, CUT THE BULLSHIT, WE'RE NOT BUYING IT....

 CALL ME OLD FASHIONED, BUT I PREFER PRESIDENTS WHO SUPPORT DEMOCRACY.....

Funds for Trump's Board of Peace aren't in World Bank account. So where are they? & Drumpf / Trump is transferring $10 billion to his Board of Peace1&3JUN26

 

Funds for Trump's Board of Peace aren't in World Bank account. So where are they?

June 1, 20264:47 AM ET

Heard on Morning Edition

Steve Inskeep

NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with Financial Times reporter Abigail Hauslohner about the funding of President Trump's Board of Peace to oversee Gaza's reconstruction.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It is hard to trace the money for President Trump's Board of Peace. This international body formed to support reconstruction of Gaza was set up like an exclusive club. Lifetime membership for countries was supposed to cost $1 billion. The World Bank administers the funds. But the official account has not received any contributions from donor countries, including the United States. So where did the money go? Abigail Hauslohner broke the story in the Financial Times.

ABIGAIL HAUSLOHNER: This started as a tip that I was exploring about the legality of the board to begin with, to be able to receive money and spend money. And in talking to people who are intimately familiar with this setup, I found out there is no money that has been put into this account managed by the World Bank.

INSKEEP: And that is clear to you from talking with sources, people who know, people who get...

HAUSLOHNER: That's from talking to five different sources with direct knowledge. Confirmed.

INSKEEP: OK, $0.

HAUSLOHNER: That's right.

INSKEEP: Does that mean that nobody paid the money?

HAUSLOHNER: No, so what's interesting is there have been some donations to the board. They have just gone around this mechanism that was set up for this purpose. So instead - and this has been done in a sort of secretive, roundabout way. But we've learned about donations from the United Arab Emirates and from Morocco - there may also have been from private groups that we don't know about - that have gone directly into the J.P. Morgan account that the board has direct access to.

What's noteworthy about that is there's no requirement there - right? - that they report, that anyone reports who's donating, how much, how it's being spent. Whereas the World Bank account allows the donor countries to have a say, effectively, in sort of policy that guides this spending. With this, there's no such reporting requirement. It's a private bank account. We only know that some of this money is meant to go towards Palestinian police training.

INSKEEP: Yeah.

HAUSLOHNER: Towards the board's salaries.

INSKEEP: But has any money gone to Gaza?

HAUSLOHNER: No. This fund was established, and the Board of Peace was established, with the idea that this was going to be this international body to oversee the rebuilding of postwar Gaza. None of this money is being spent inside Gaza. There's still no Palestinian transitional government operating inside Gaza.

INSKEEP: There's nobody to receive the money?

HAUSLOHNER: There's no one to receive the money is what the Board of Peace says, yeah. There's also been no resolution to the laws or regulations that would govern this kind of spending, this kind of reconstruction.

INSKEEP: Has the Board of Peace been able to use the power of its backers - the United States, the U.K., other countries - to force any changes in Gaza?

HAUSLOHNER: No, look, Gaza is still effectively a war zone. There was this big ceasefire announced last fall. That's what, you know, sort of gave rise to Trump's concept of a Board of Peace. The ceasefire is largely a ceasefire in name. Fighting continues. The vast majority of the population continues to live in very dire humanitarian circumstances. There's aid flowing in. But none of this next phase for Gaza that was outlined by Trump in unveiling the board, we never got there.

INSKEEP: What has the Board of Peace told you when you asked about your findings?

HAUSLOHNER: They said that multiple different accounts were set up and that donors just so happened to prefer the J.P. Morgan account as a destination for their funds over the world bank account. They couldn't explain why exactly that would be the preference. They just said that that was their preference.

INSKEEP: Abigail Hauslohner of the Financial Times, thanks for coming by.

HAUSLOHNER: Thank you, Steve.

INSKEEP: Now, the Board of Peace told Hauslohner, as we heard, that there's nobody in Gaza to receive and spend money for rebuilding. And, quote, "we're not hoarding money in a bank account and then awarding contracts for things that can't be delivered."

Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Shoddy $1 Million Vietnam War Memorial, Mired in Fraud, Is Being Torn Down 10MAR26

 

Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen wants to demolish the unfinished Vietnam War Memorial in Fountain Valley’s Mile Square Park. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

FRAUD, bribery, theft, conspiracy all committed by a gop / greed over people-republican party politician!!! And no, this time this isn't about NOT MY pres drumpf / trump. But where is the outrage??? Where are the additional investigations??? The ignorance based, hate fueled, racist attacks on the Vietnamese immigrant community??? ( I REALLY HOPE THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN ). This from Military.com.....

Shoddy $1 Million Vietnam War Memorial, Mired in Fraud, Is Being Torn Down

Military.com | By Kevin Damask

Published March 10, 2026 at 3:00am ET

A Vietnam War memorial in Southern California, plagued by fraud and political scandal nearly from the start, will be demolished, according to local officials. 

Plans for the memorial in Orange County were unveiled in 2023 to honor Vietnamese troops who worked alongside U.S. forces in Vietnam. Orange County, a mostly affluent region of California, features the largest number of Vietnamese Americans in the country. 

Andrew Do, the embattled former Orange County Supervisor, created the project, designating $1 million from local taxpayers to a nonprofit called the Viet America Society. However, an investigation showed that Do was siphoning money from the organization for personal use. Do faced prosecution on conspiracy charges and was sentenced to five years in prison. 

While Do faced legal woes, the Vietnam Memorial sat idle, wilting in the Southern California sun. The project was taken over by new leadership, who said they were appalled by the memorial’s shabby construction. 

Tear Down, Start Over 

Last fall, the Los Angeles Times reported that repairing the half-finished monument would incur costs between $168,000 to $420,000, adding an extra $40,000 to complete the engraving process, making sure each deceased veteran’s name is listed on the wall.  

With the heavy price tag for renovation, Orange County officials decided to tear down the memorial (a much less expensive process) and totally rebuild the memorial. Last week, crews came to Mile Square Regional Park to begin the process of demolishing an idea once promising, now being torn to rubble. 

Janet Nguyen, Do’s successor as county supervisor, said the memorial was a “disgrace” and vowed to do better.  

“The county decided to tear down the wall because we can do better. This memorial is a disgrace to veterans and not the respect they deserve,” Nguyen said in a statement to the Daily Mail. “We have been looking for alternative options, including a space at the new veteran’s cemetery.” 

Telling local news station KTLA last November that the disgraced memorial was a “heartbreaking” way to honor veterans, she noted the monument, bearing no wheel-chair accessible path, could not be enjoyed by veterans with disabilities.

“What was the point?” Nguyen said at a November press conference. “They ... put up these cheap materials that are getting worn down already within not even a year, just so they could launder the rest of the money themselves.” 

Nick Beradino, who serves as president of the Veterans Alliance of Orange County, told the L.A. Times that the memorial looked beyond repair, calling it “trashy.” 

“It dishonors the service of the brave men and women whose names are on that wall,” Beradino said.  “It’s time to tear it down and move forward.” 

A Tale of Deception 

Once the monument is torn down, county officials hope to move on from Do’s fraudulent tenure as supervisor. 

In 2024, Do pleaded guilty to taking more than $500,000 in bribery money and funneling $10 million in COVID-19 relief funds to the Viet America Society. Based on a report from the Central District of California’s U.S. Attorney’s Office, Do moved about $224,000 to his daughter, Rhiannon Do, who was helping run the Viet America Society. 

Last June, Todd Spitzer, Orange County district attorney, said Do “transformed the County of Orange into an ATM available to his insiders, his loved ones, and himself, withdrawing millions of dollars to buy houses, lavish dinners, and expensive wine while the elderly, the sick, and the vulnerable who depended on Andrew Do were left to fend for themselves.” 

According to the Department of Justice, Do also filtered funds through the non-profit for his own benefit, using tens of thousands of dollars to pay property tax and credit card bills. 

Do certainly left a mess in his destructive wake, but as county officials finish tearing down the old Vietnam veterans memorial, they hope to start fresh and construct a new one properly honoring those who served.

THE INTERCEPT: Right-Wing YouTuber Behind Viral Minnesota Fraud Video Has Long Anti-Immigrant History, Dan Goldman Supported Warrantless Spying on Americans. Now His Primary Opponent Is Hitting Him for It., My Quest to Make the Pentagon Care About the Crimes It Covered Up, These Apps Let You Bet on Deportations and Famine. Mainstream Media Is Eating It Up., CIA Was Behind Venezuela Drone Strike, Source Says, Prosecutor Floating Death Penalty for Nick Reiner Knows It’s an Empty Threat, AIPAC Is Retreating From Endorsements and Election Spending. It Won’t Give Up Its Influence., International Pressure Was Building to Hold Israel Accountable. What Happened?, Cop Group Alleges “Discrimination” by Prosecutor for Being Too Nice to Immigrants, Reuniting With Family in Gaza During the Break Between Bombings, Trump Spent 2025 Making Trans Lives Unlivable. It’s Time for Democrats to Defend Them., The Feds Keep Prosecuting Protesters Against ICE — and Losing, War on Christmas: Trump Announces Wave of Airstrikes Targeting ISIS Militants in Nigeria, Kat Abughazaleh Thinks Campaign Funds Should Help Feed People 1JAN26

 

Most Read Right-Wing YouTuber Behind Viral Minnesota Fraud Video Has Long Anti-Immigrant History Jonah Valdez Before alleging fraud in Minnesota’s Somali community, right-wing YouTuber Nick Shirley built a following with anti-immigrant clips. Read More → Dan Goldman Supported Warrantless Spying on Americans. Now His Primary Opponent Is Hitting Him for It. Matt Sledge Goldman was among a clutch of Democrats who voted for an NSA spy program, despite warnings about Trump’s return to power. Read More → Protecting freedom of the press has never been more important. Be the next person to support The Intercept’s independent journalism by becoming a member today. BECOME A MEMBER → Top Stories My Quest to Make the Pentagon Care About the Crimes It Covered Up Nick Turse For years, I’ve shared names of former soldiers implicated in atrocities with the Pentagon. It’s shown no interest in punishment until Mark Kelly dissed Trump. Read More → These Apps Let You Bet on Deportations and Famine. Mainstream Media Is Eating It Up. Tekendra Parmar “The long-term vision is to financialize everything and create a tradable asset out of any difference in opinion.” Read More → CIA Was Behind Venezuela Drone Strike, Source Says Nick Turse The December 24 drone strike in Venezuela is the latest in a long tradition of CIA interventions in Latin America — which often lead to destabilization and blowback. Read More → Prosecutor Floating Death Penalty for Nick Reiner Knows It’s an Empty Threat Liliana Segura LA District Attorney Nathan Hochman is playing politics by raising the specter of the death penalty for the murders of Rob and Michele Reiner. Read More → AIPAC Is Retreating From Endorsements and Election Spending. It Won’t Give Up Its Influence. Akela Lacy The lobbying group is taking a quieter approach this midterms cycle, but it’s still seeking to keep Congress in Israel’s pocket. Read More → International Pressure Was Building to Hold Israel Accountable. What Happened? Jonah Valdez After Trump’s plan for Gaza went into effect, governments seemed eager to return to the status quo. Read More → Cop Group Alleges “Discrimination” by Prosecutor for Being Too Nice to Immigrants Akela Lacy The pro-police group wants the Justice Department to investigate a reformist prosecutor for violating the civil rights of against American citizens. Read More → Reuniting With Family in Gaza During the Break Between Bombings Taqwa Ahmed Al-Wawi For a brief period, the pause in Israeli violence gave us a sense of normalcy. Then the airstrikes started again. Read More → Trump Spent 2025 Making Trans Lives Unlivable. It’s Time for Democrats to Defend Them. Natasha Lennard Elected Democrats haven’t done nearly enough to oppose attacks on gender-affirming care. They risk being on the wrong side of history. Read More → The Feds Keep Prosecuting Protesters Against ICE — and Losing Noah Hurowitz Prosecutors for the Trump administration have been quick to bring charges against ICE protesters. They’ve also been quick to lose the cases. Read More → War on Christmas: Trump Announces Wave of Airstrikes Targeting ISIS Militants in Nigeria Nick Turse Trump cast the Nigeria strikes as an assault on those “who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians.” Read More → Kat Abughazaleh Thinks Campaign Funds Should Help Feed People Jessica Washington The Illinois congressional candidate turned her campaign office into a mutual aid hub. Read More →

The Intercept is a recognized 501(c)(3) charitable organization. The Intercept’s mailing address is: The Intercept P.O. Box 9201 New York, NY 10008 The Intercept is an award-winning nonprofit news organization dedicated to holding the powerful accountable through fearless, adversarial journalism. Our in-depth investigations and unflinching analysis focus on surveillance, war, corruption, the environment, technology, criminal justice, the media and more. Email is an important way for us to communicate with The Intercept's readers, but if you'd like to stop hearing from us, click here to unsubscribe or update your subscription preferences. Become a member of The Intercept today and support our independent journalism. BECOME A MEMBER →