The Trump Foundation is no more, and in its dissolution, it fulfilled its purpose of actually distributing funds to charitable causes, instead of to Trump’s coffers.
After nearly three decades of “persistently illegal conduct” at the Trump Foundation, Judge Saliann Scarpulla ordered Trump to pay $2 million in damages for misusing charitable funds, and further ordered Trump to distribute the remaining $1.8 million in the foundation to actual charities.
What did the chartiy spend its money on, if not for charitable purposes?
- A $25,000 donation to a political action committee (illegal)
- A $100,000 donation as part of a campaign rally (illegal)
- $250,000 to settle lawsuits against his business (obvs illegal)
- A football helmet autographed by Tim Tebow (obvs)
- A large painting of himself that he hung on the wall of a Florida golf resort (obvs and narcissistic). It’s actually an interesting painting, one of those speed paintings that starts upside down until the big reveal at the end. Talented artist, absolute tool of a former president.
As part of the agreement, the Foundation is shuttered for good, and significant restrictions have been placed on any future Trump charities in New York, including:
- Any future charitable activities in New York will be closely monitored
- If Trump ever joins a charity board, the board must contain a majority of members who are not friends of Trump and it must hire a qualified attorney
- Any future charities must submit to audits and neither Trump nor his companies can receive any compensation from the charity
“That’s a pretty significant statement about a lack of trust of the presidents capabilities.”
Philip Hackney, University of Pittsburgh charity law professor
Given that Trump can no longer continue the charitable grift, I think it’s safe to say that Trump will avoid charities like he avoids eating his vegetables.
The funniest part about this is that Trump’s attorney categorized the $2 million dollar fine as an “additional contribution” that the Trump Foundation was “proud” to make on behalf of Foundation charities. What an absolute bellend.
Image by Martin Missfeldt, used under CC-BY-SA