Judge Orders Trump to Pay $2 Million for Misusing Trump Foundation Charity Funds

New York State Supreme Court Justice Saliann Scarpulla ordered President Donald Trump to pay $2 million in damages to eight legitimate charities for systematically misusing the Trump Foundation for personal, business, and political purposes. The judgment found that Trump had “breached his fiduciary duties” as Foundation president and personally benefited from charitable assets meant for public good. The court also mandated that Trump and his adult children complete mandatory training on the legal requirements for operating charitable foundations and imposed restrictions on Trump’s ability to serve on charity boards without prior court approval - extraordinary judicial sanctions acknowledging his systematic abuse of charitable status.

Background

The $2 million judgment came after a nearly two-year legal battle following NY Attorney General Barbara Underwood’s June 2018 lawsuit alleging “persistent illegal conduct” by the Trump Foundation. While the Foundation itself had been dissolved in December 2018, the lawsuit continued against Trump personally and his children for damages and penalties based on their roles as foundation directors.

Justice Scarpulla’s 27-page decision meticulously documented Trump’s violations, finding 19 admitted instances of illegal conduct. The court found Trump had violated his fiduciary duties by:

Self-Dealing: Using foundation funds to purchase portraits of himself ($258,000 and $20,000) displayed at Trump properties, paying $158,000 in foundation money to settle a Mar-a-Lago legal fine, and using $25,000 in charitable funds for a Trump University-related payment.

Campaign Coordination: The court was particularly critical of the January 2016 Iowa veterans fundraiser, finding it “was used for Mr. Trump’s political campaign and disbursement of the funds was dictated by Trump Campaign staff.” This violated federal law prohibiting 501(c)(3) organizations from participating in political campaigns.

Breach of Fiduciary Duty: Trump treated foundation assets as indistinguishable from his personal and business funds, with “Foundation money spent to further Mr. Trump’s political and business interests” rather than charitable purposes.

The $2 million in damages was distributed equally among eight charities: Army Emergency Relief, Children’s Aid Society, City Meals-on-Wheels, Give an Hour, Martha’s Table, United Negro College Fund, United Way of National Capital Area, and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum - ensuring the money finally served actual charitable purposes.

Significance

Justice Scarpulla’s judgment represented unprecedented accountability for a sitting President’s charity fraud. The court’s findings were devastating: “Mr. Trump breached his fiduciary duty to the Foundation and that waste occurred to the Foundation.” The mandatory training requirement was particularly humiliating - a federal judge essentially ordering the President to go back to school to learn the basics of charity law he had systematically violated.

New York Attorney General Letitia James stated: “No one is above the law - not a businessman, not a candidate for office, and not even the President of the United States.” The judgment established court-proven facts about Trump’s corruption that could not be disputed: a sitting President had illegally used a charitable foundation for personal enrichment, business benefit, and campaign coordination.

Most significantly, the restrictions imposed on Trump’s ability to serve on charity boards acknowledged his unfitness to be entrusted with charitable assets. The court essentially found Trump could not be trusted with other people’s money meant for charitable purposes - a judicial determination of dishonesty that would follow him beyond his presidency. Combined with the earlier dissolution order, the judgment ensured the Trump Foundation scandal would be permanently documented in court records as a case study in charity fraud by a powerful figure who believed legal requirements didn’t apply to him.