--- title: Donald Trump Is Dissolving His Charity Foundation description: President Donald Trump is dissolving his charitable foundation nearly a year after it admitted to violating federal rules on 'self-dealing' canonical: https://time.com/5032744/president-trump-is-officially-dissolving-his-charitable-foundation/ author: Aric Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-21T01:07:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:57.233Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Is Officially Dissolving His Charitable Foundation og:description: Trump appears to be making good on a promise he made nearly a year ago og:url: https://time.com/5032744/president-trump-is-officially-dissolving-his-charitable-foundation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt89931e9f33234ca9/6988e614196cf4311e042c44/gettyimages-822537502.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: President Trump And Lebanese PM Hariri Deliver Joint Statements At White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Is Officially Dissolving His Charitable Foundation twitter:description: Trump appears to be making good on a promise he made nearly a year ago twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt89931e9f33234ca9/6988e614196cf4311e042c44/gettyimages-822537502.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Is Officially Dissolving His Charitable Foundation > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=dcf5e8eb-4416-48d9-953e-4267e92f4a2c&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: How Every Donald Trump Proposal Plays Out [Watch (HLS stream): How Every Donald Trump Proposal Plays Out](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hPepeavP.m3u8) (1:38)  _Published 2017-11-16. As a candidate, Donald Trump didn’t sweat the details of public policy. Now that he’s president? He still doesn’t. Over the first year of his presidency, Trump has followed a consistent pattern on dealing with issues coming before Congress_ by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Nov 21, 2017 1:07 AM UTC  President Donald Trump in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC, on July 25, 2017. President Donald Trump in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC, on July 25, 2017. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Nov 21, 2017 1:07 AM UTC [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/5032336/white-house-lavar-ball-rhetorical-response/) is dissolving his charitable foundation nearly a year after it admitted to violating federal rules on “self-dealing,” according to newly-filed tax documents. Internal Revenue Service documents filed this month and [obtained by NBC News](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/donald-trump-shutting-down-his-charitable-foundation-n822636) confirm Trump is [making good on his promise from last December](http://time.com/4617733/donald-trump-foundation-shutter/) to shutter the [Donald J. Trump Foundation](http://time.com/money/4516841/donald-trump-foundation-cease-and-desist-violation/) in light of scrutiny over potential conflict of interest. “The foundation announced its intent to dissolve and is seeking approval to distribute its remaining funds” to other charities, according to the IRS filing, which was uploaded to charity watchdog website [Guidestar.org](http://www.guidestar.org/Home.aspx) by the foundation. In October 2016, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman ordered the foundation to halt its solicitation of charitable donations in the state. Now, a spokesperson from the foundation says that it is working with Schneiderman’s office in order to facilitate the foundation’s closing. “The Foundation continues to cooperate with the New York Attorney General’s Charities Division, and as previously announced by the President, his advisers are working with the Charities Division to wind up the affairs of the Foundation,” the spokesperson told NBC. “The Foundation looks forward to distributing its remaining assets at the earliest possible time to aid numerous worthy charitable organizations.” The foundation had about $970,000 in assets at the end of 2016, the documents show, according to NBC. The attorney general’s press secretary, Amy Spitalnick, told the outlet that the foundation legally cannot close yet since it is “still under investigation by this office.” Tax records dating back to 2015 show that the foundation has violated the IRS’ provisions on self-dealing, which bars nonprofits from funneling charity funds to its leaders, their businesses, or their families. Trump himself acknowledged the violation, saying in a December 2016 statement: “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.” It remains unclear how Trump will seek to continue his charitable interests in the “other ways” he mentioned last year. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] As a candidate, Donald Trump didn't sweat the details of public policy. Now that he is President, he mostly still doesn't. During the campaign and through the first year of his presidency, Trump has followed a consistent pattern of dealing with issues coming before the Congress, whether that is healthcare, immigration or tax reform. Here's how it works. Step 1: Make a bold pledge like providing health insurance for everyone. I am going to take care of everybody. I don't care if it costs me votes or not. Everybody is gonna be taken care much better than they're taken care of now. Everybody is getting a tax cut especially the middle class. Step 2: Promise to give details soon usually within the next two weeks. We will be reporting back sometime over the next two weeks. We are going to get into great detail over the next two weeks. Step three, put the responsibility for the plan on Congress. Hopefully, now, Congress will be able to help them and do it Properly. We have to stay here. We shouldn't leave town and we should hammer this out and get it done. Step 4: If things don't work out, lay blame on either republicans or democrats. There are some republicans, frankly, that should be ashamed of themselves. The Democrats have terrible policy, terrible. And they are very at really obstruction. The one thing they do well. Their policy is no good and I am not even sure if they are very good politicians. They don't seem to be doing too well. 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