Washington Post Investigation Reveals Trump Foundation Used for Self-Dealing and Business Settlements

Washington Post investigative reporter David Fahrenthold published a groundbreaking series of investigations revealing that the Donald J. Trump Foundation had engaged in a systematic pattern of illegal self-dealing, using tax-exempt charitable funds to purchase items for Trump’s personal use, settle his businesses’ legal disputes, and promote his political campaigns. The investigation documented at least $258,000 in foundation funds used to pay legal settlements for Trump’s for-profit businesses, including $158,000 to settle a Mar-a-Lago flagpole dispute and payments related to Trump University. The reporting also revealed that Trump had not donated any of his own money to the Foundation since 2008, instead using it to distribute other people’s charitable contributions while taking credit for the philanthropy.

Background

Fahrenthold’s investigation began with a simple question: had Trump actually made the charitable donations he claimed during the 2016 presidential campaign? Through meticulous review of tax filings, interviews with hundreds of charities, and tracking down physical evidence like Trump portraits purchased with foundation funds, Fahrenthold uncovered a shocking pattern of fraud. The investigation revealed Trump used foundation money to buy a $20,000 portrait of himself (later found hanging at a Trump golf course), a $158,000 payment settling a Mar-a-Lago legal fine, and numerous other transactions that provided direct benefit to Trump’s businesses and personal interests.

Perhaps most damning, Fahrenthold discovered the Trump Foundation had become what he termed a vehicle for spending “other people’s money.” Since 2008, Trump had contributed nothing to his own foundation, instead soliciting donations from others (including $5 million from Vince McMahon’s WWE) and then directing those funds to causes that would generate publicity and business advantages for Trump. Foundation grants were timed to coincide with Trump’s business openings and controversial projects, suggesting charitable giving was subordinated to Trump’s commercial interests.

The investigation also documented the Foundation’s use for political purposes, including the illegal $25,000 donation to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s political committee while her office was considering whether to investigate Trump University. Trump’s campaign had planned and executed the Iowa veterans fundraiser using the Foundation, with campaign manager Corey Lewandowski directing foundation activities in clear violation of laws prohibiting 501(c)(3) charities from campaign involvement.

Significance

Fahrenthold’s investigation earned the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting and provided the evidentiary foundation for the New York Attorney General’s lawsuit against the Trump Foundation. The reporting transformed public understanding of Trump’s charitable claims, revealing them as a facade concealing systematic fraud. The documented self-dealing violations directly led to the Foundation’s dissolution and Trump being ordered to pay $2 million in damages.

The investigation exemplified accountability journalism’s crucial role in exposing corruption that government agencies had failed to detect or act upon for years. Fahrenthold’s work demonstrated that the Trump Foundation had operated in violation of federal tax law throughout its existence, with Trump treating charitable assets as an extension of his business empire. The New York AG’s lawsuit explicitly cited Fahrenthold’s reporting, incorporating his findings into legal charges of “persistent illegal conduct.” The case established Trump’s pattern of using nominally charitable organizations as vehicles for self-enrichment, political influence, and business advantage - a blueprint for corruption that would characterize his later presidency.