President Trump presented Nick Shirley, the conservative YouTuber behind viral fraud videos filmed in Minnesota, with a $10,000 check from the Oval Office as the White House launched a program that pays people who report suspected fraud to the government.
Mr. Trump and Vice President JD Vance announced $25 million whistleblower incentive programknown as WHIP. Anyone can submit a report on Fraud.gov, and the Department of Justice will run the program. Tipsters whose reports help lead to a fraud conviction could receive up to $30,000, the White House said.
Mr. Trump said he believed the incentive would “keep a lot of people honest.”
Shirley’s 42-minute video, released in December 2025, claimed that nearly a dozen Minnesota child care centers were receiving public money without providing any services. Visits from state officials and Homeland Security agents some centers in the days following its online broadcast.
A CBS News review of state records at the time found that all but two centers had active licenses and that regulators had visited the active centers in the previous six months. It found dozens of citations for security and other violations, but no recorded evidence of fraud, as of Dec. 30, 2025.
A video center, the Quality Learning Center in Minneapolis, closed in Januaryaccording to state records. The center received $1.9 million from the Minnesota Child Care Assistance Program in fiscal year 2025, the state said.
A woman who appeared in one of Shirley’s videos has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
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