WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump says he intends to dissolve the Donald J. Trump Foundation.
The charity, which is run by the president-elect, solicited outside gifts and has been criticized for using donations to fund business interests. The New York attorney general has also been investigating the charity.
No timeline was given for when the foundation would shut down, but Trump said in an emailed statement Saturday that he had directed his counsel to take the necessary steps to dissolve the foundation in order “to avoid even the appearance of any conflict” with his role as president.
The full statement reads:
President-elect Donald J. Trump announced today that, as part of his ongoing transition efforts, he intends to dissolve the Donald J. Trump Foundation. In making this announcement, Mr. Trump stated: “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. 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.”
President-elect Trump has directed his counsel to take the necessary steps to effectuate the dissolution.
The President-elect added, “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% 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.”
The Trump family’s other charity ventures also have come under scrutiny in recent days.
On Wednesday, Eric Trump, one of the president-elect’s sons, told The Associated Press that he would stop fundraising the Eric Trump Foundation because he worried the donations could be perceived as buying access to his dad.
