Trump ties NC Camp Lejeune settlements to GOP win, angering survivors

GREENVILLE, N.C. — President Donald Trump told a crowd of supporters Tuesday that his administration would direct the U.S. Department of Justice to settle remaining claims from veterans and family members sickened by contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune, but would do so only if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate in November. 

“I am directing the Department of Justice to settle all remaining legitimate claims as soon as possible and get it off the books and get it finished,” Trump said at the rally at the Pitt-Greenville Airport. 

“If we don’t win, there’s no money,” Trump said. “If we do win, you’re getting it.” 

This isn’t the first time Trump has tied the resolution of outstanding claims to the outcome of the upcoming midterm elections. He also tied outstanding Helene aid to a Republican win at a recent event in Gastonia, North Carolina, although he later said he was joking.

The Camp Lejeune Justice Act, enacted in 2022, established a process for people exposed to contaminated water at the Jacksonville base between 1953 and 1987 to seek compensation for resulting illnesses. 

Trump said his administration had delivered $1 billion in cash settlements to veterans and their families, most of whom he said were based in North Carolina. The Justice Department reported last month that it has already released more than $879 million in payouts through the claims process overall. 

However, that’s only a small part of the funding that’s been earmarked for survivors. The money has been the subject of a long-running legal battle between the federal government and survivors, who say it has been too slow to pay claims.

Jill Steen Dilgard lost her father to cancer, as well as an uncle and two cousins. All four served at Camp Lejeune. She began advocating for affected families in 2017, when she first learned about the contamination. 

She filed a claim with the government in August 2022, and has been waiting for a payment ever since. 

Dilgard told NC Newsline she was “furious and sickened” when she heard Trump’s remarks. She said the people affected by the contamination should never become part of a political fight. 

“I don’t care what side of the political aisle you come from,” she said. “ You’re making derogatory remarks toward people who went through a horrible, horrible experience and many still fight in that battle.”

She also said Trump could have done more in his first term to resolve the claims. 

“If he has all the authority he says he does to make this happen, why didn’t he do the right thing from the get-go?” she said. 

Federal study finds high rates of eight cancers in former Camp Lejeune troops, families, workers

Democratic Gov. Josh Stein also criticized Trump’s comments in a social media post Tuesday after the rally. 

“Real leaders fight for the people, not for power,” he said. “To condition doing the right thing by sick North Carolinians on who wins the election is foul.”

U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross, a Raleigh Democrat, has worked on legislation intended to address delays in the Camp Lejeune claims process. She said a backlog of claims in the federal court system has slowed the process.

Ross co-sponsored the bipartisan Ensuring Justice for Camp Lejeune Victims Act of 2025, which would update the 2022 law to help claimants receive timely payouts by capping attorney fees and speeding up when claims go to trial. But the bill hasn’t moved. 

“There are people dying before they get justice,” she told NC Newsline. 

Ross criticized Trump for promising to resolve claims if Republicans win Congress while the legislation is stalled. She said the issue should not depend on which party controls Congress. 

“It’s wrong, unethical and un-American,” she said. “If he had that power, why is he making sick and grieving families wait today?”

Trump also told supporters he wanted the settlements to go directly to the families affected at Camp Lejeune. 

“We don’t want to give any to the trial lawyers,” he said. “We want it to go to the families, not the lawyers.” 

It’s not clear whether that’s possible. But Dilgard said that doesn’t matter if the claims aren’t paid to the families at all. 

“How can you play political games with people’s lives?” she said. “It’s just not something you ever want to see or hear.”