Donald Trump seems to view federal funds like a personal presidential piggy bank.

His warning Tuesday that some furloughed workers may not, as is customary, get back pay when the government shutdown ends was the latest sign that he regards public money sent to Washington by taxpayers and the states as a personal slush fund to spend as he sees fit.

He’s happy to entertain spending on programs he favors — for instance, vast bailouts for farmers routed by his tariffs or rescue plans for friendly global populists like his friend President Javier Milei of Argentina.

But when the bill comes due for things he hates, or for projects important to his political foes, Trump can be remarkably stingy.

In the past, Puerto Rican hurricane victims, Democratic states seeking disaster aid, Californian officials who ignore his forest management advice or “sanctuary cities” that resist his deportations have faced threats to their funding.

And the administration has used the threat and reality of canceled state funding for research to try to force universities such as Harvard and Columbia to submit to its ideological and policy requirements and to end practices it considers “woke,” like diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Trump sees federal cash as a weapon in shutdown fight

Trump’s willingness to use the budget as a weapon has only intensified since the gove