President-elect Donald Trump will dissolve his charity, the Donald J. Trump Foundation, he announced Saturday.
“The Foundation has done enormous good works over the years in contributing millions of dollars to countless worthy groups, including supporting veterans, law enforcement officers and children,” the president-elect said in a statement. “However, to avoid even the appearance of any conflict with my role as President I have decided to continue to pursue my strong interest in philanthropy in other ways.”
The statement said Trump has directed his legal team to “take the necessary steps” to dissolve the foundation.
“I am very proud of the money that has been raised for many organizations in need, and I am also very proud of the fact that the Foundation has operated at essentially no cost for decades, with 100 percent of the money going to charity, but because I will be devoting so much time and energy to the Presidency and solving the many problems facing our country and the world, I don’t want to allow good work to be associated with a possible conflict of interest,” Trump added in the statement.
Trump has not personally contributed to the Donald J. Trump Foundation since 2008, according to an August CBS report.
And while Trump’s statement says he has ordered his counsel to start the process, they might not have anything to do just yet. The charitable foundation is currently under investigation by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, and a spokesperson’s from his office tweeted that it won’t be legally permitted to dissolve while that’s the case.
.@Fahrenthold @realDonaldTrump Foundation still under investigation by @AGSchneiderman, cannot legally dissolve until investigation complete
— Amy Spitalnick (@amyspitalnick) December 24, 2016
Saturday’s news marks the second Trump family charity in three days to go dark. Trump’s son Eric suspended his Eric Trump Foundation on Thursday after an AP investigation found that it flouted philanthropic standards — something the president-elect called a “ridiculous shame” on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/812264762981675008
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/812266152684650496