Sources
- https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/18/nyregion/trump-foundation-dissolve.html
This New York Times article provides detailed coverage of the dissolution of the Trump Foundation, including the legal actions and investigations that led to its closure. It is a reliable source for understanding the timeline and reasons behind the foundation's dissolution. - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-used-258000-from-his-charity-to-settle-legal-problems/2016/09/20/adc88f9c-7d11-11e6-ac8e-cf8e0dd91dc7_story.html
This Washington Post article investigates how Donald Trump used funds from the Trump Foundation to settle legal disputes. It provides evidence and context for the misuse of foundation funds, making it a relevant source for this claim. - https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/07/politics/trump-foundation-settlement-new-york/index.html
This CNN article covers the settlement and final dissolution of the Trump Foundation, including the court's orders for restitution and distribution of remaining funds. It is a credible source for understanding the legal outcomes of the investigations. - https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-york-attorney-general-announces-court-ordered-dissolution-trump-foundation-under-judicial
This official press release from the New York Attorney General's office provides authoritative information on the court-ordered dissolution of the Trump Foundation. It is a primary source for legal details and official statements regarding the case. - https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-charity-donation
This ProPublica article investigates the discrepancies between Donald Trump's claimed charitable donations and the actual donations made by the Trump Foundation. It is a reliable source for understanding the allegations of falsely claimed donations.
Key Points
- The Trump Foundation was established in 1988 by Donald Trump to manage royalties from his book and charitable donations.
- The foundation had minimal staff and no physical office, operating with just Trump and board members.
- Investigations in 2016 focused on misuse of funds, sources of donations, and distribution practices.
- Trump attempted to dissolve the foundation in 2016 but was blocked by the New York Attorney General due to ongoing investigations.
- Records show Trump used foundation funds to avoid income taxes by directing personal payments to the foundation.
- Trump used foundation money to pay legal settlements instead of using personal funds.
- Many of Trump's pledged charitable donations were either partially fulfilled or not fulfilled at all.
- Some donations claimed by Trump were actually paid using foundation funds, not his personal money.
- The foundation was ordered to dissolve in 2018 after investigations concluded, with remaining funds distributed to court-approved charities.
- Upon dissolution, the foundation was required to repay certain funds and donate over two million dollars to approved charities.
Summary
The Trump Foundation, established by Donald Trump in 1988, faced multiple investigations starting in 2016 over allegations of fund misuse, including avoiding taxes, paying legal settlements, and failing to fulfill charitable pledges. Despite Trump's attempt to dissolve the foundation before his presidency, it was halted due to ongoing investigations and ultimately ordered to close in 2018, with remaining funds distributed to court-approved charities. The case highlighted significant mismanagement and misuse of the foundation's resources over decades.
Explaining the Trump Foundation
The Trump Foundation is the name commonly used when referring to the Donald J. Trump Foundation, a tax-exempt private foundation established by former president Donald Trump in 1988. He created this foundation as a means to collect and handle the royalties from his popular book Trump: The Art of the Deal and to collect donations and distribute them to charitable causes.
The Trump Foundation had very few staff, consisting only of Donald Trump and the board members, and had no physical office space from which to operate.
2016 brought about the start of investigations into the Trump Foundation. These investigations primarily focused on how foundation money was being spent, the source of incoming donations, where the donations went, and to whom the donations were being made.
At the end of 2016, a month before Donald Trump’s inauguration, he attempted to dissolve the Trump Foundation so there would be no conflict of interest with one of his businesses and his presidency. He was stopped from doing so by the Attorney General of the New York State due to the fact that he, and his business, were currently under investigation and could not dissolve until the investigation had come to a conclusion.
Misuse of Foundation Funds for Personal Use or Gain
Investigations by numerous parties, starting officially in 2016, brought allegations, complaints, and charges to be filed against the Trump Foundation. The core of these issues came from the misuse of foundation funds by Donald Trump. Instances of him misusing funds have been dated almost three decades prior, possibly starting as early as 1989.
Records going back almost two decades have provided multiple instances of Donald Trump using the Trump Foundation to avoid income taxes. This was accomplished by having people or organizations direct his payments for personal appearances to the Trump Foundation. Due to the foundation being a tax-exempt organization, he avoided the income tax which would have been imposed on his large payments if not placed into the foundation account.
Records have shown Donald Trump has used funds from his foundation to pay off multiple legal settlements. He was ordered to pay the settlement amount owed to the correct parties on multiple occasions after losing legal battles. Instead of using money from his personal accounts, he made the necessary payments using money from the Trump Foundation, a foundation that was supposed to be receiving and distributing money to and from charities.
Misuse of Foundation Funds Regarding Charitable Donations
Over the decades, Donald Trump has made and pledged many charitable donations to many organizations. However, not all of these pledges were fulfilled. Many organizations only saw partial amounts of the donation promised and never received the rest of the donation pledged to them. Donald Trump failed to fulfill many donation pledges he made, leaving organizations, foundations, and causes without any donation at all.
Some records searched during the investigations against Donald Trump revealed falsely claimed donations. Donald Trump had proudly pledged donations to multiple organizations, stating he personally was giving the donation. Records show, however, that he used money from the Trump Foundation to pay for some of these donations, not paying for them with any of his money, contrary to what he had claimed.
The Dissolution of the Trump Foundation
Before his presidential inauguration, Donald Trump handed control of the foundation over to some of his children for them to manage, removing a conflict of interest by having a personal business while being president. Soon after, he announced that he was going to dissolve the Trump Foundation in December of 2016. This was prevented by the orders of the Attorney General of the New York State as Donald Trump and his foundation were still under investigation and it was not allowed to be dissolved until the investigation had concluded.
The investigation finished two years later and the Trump Foundation was ordered to dissolve in December of 2018. Upon dissolving, the Trump Foundation was ordered to pay back a certain amount of funds to a number of organizations as restitution. The rest of the money in the Trump Foundation, over two million dollars, was to be divided and donated to charities chosen and approved by the court system, and with that completed, the foundation was officially dissolved.
