TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP BUSINESS: “President Trump’s charitable foundation increased its fund-raising and giving during his campaign last year, even as it became the subject of criticism that prompted a decision to dissolve it, according to paperwork submitted this month to the I.R.S.
The Donald J. Trump Foundation raised $2.9 million in 2016 — almost as much as it had raised in the preceding four years combined — according to its annual tax filing for 2016. It also showed that the foundation donated $3 million last year, more than it had given in the previous three years combined…
The foundation also attracted scrutiny from the New York attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, who found it had violated fund-raising rules and ordered it to cease soliciting contributions the month before the election. After Mr. Trump won, he directed his lawyers to begin the process of closing the foundation to avoid conflicts of interest.
This month’s I.R.S. filing indicates that the foundation finished last year with more than $970,000 in the bank, and that it ‘is seeking approval to distribute its remaining funds to highly qualified and important’ charities.
The White House referred requests for comment on the remaining funds to the foundation.”
-Kenneth P. Vogel, “Under Scrutiny, Trump Foundation Raised, and Gave, More in 2016,” The New York Times online, Nov. 20, 2017