Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Trump lashes out over foundation shutdown

President Donald Trump is lashing out at New York Democrats over their efforts to shut down his charitable foundation

FILE - In this Dec. 13, 2018, file photo, President Donald Trump listens during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington. New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood and Trump’s charitable foundation reached a deal on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018, to dissolve the foundation and distribute its remaining assets to other nonprofit groups. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - In this Dec. 13, 2018, file photo, President Donald Trump listens during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington. New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood and Trump’s charitable foundation reached a deal on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018, to dissolve the foundation and distribute its remaining assets to other nonprofit groups. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)Read moreEvan Vucci / AP

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at New York Democrats over their efforts to shut down his charitable foundation.

Trump tweeted that his foundation has "done great work and given away lots of money."

New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood announced Tuesday that the foundation would dissolve while it fights a state lawsuit accusing it of illegally operating like an extension of Trump's businesses and political campaign.

Trump tweeted that Underwood "does little else but rant, rave & politic against me." He called former state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman a "sleazebag," and he complained that the state's attorney general-elect, Letitia James, "openly campaigned on a GET TRUMP agenda."

Trump also criticized New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who wasn't involved in the lawsuit but praised it in a tweet.

"Will never be treated fairly by these people," he said, "a total double standard of 'justice.'"

Underwood and attorneys for the Trump foundation agreed Tuesday on a court-supervised process for shutting down the charity and distributing some $1.7 million in remaining funds to other nonprofit groups.

The deal comes even as Trump continues to fight allegations he misused the foundation's assets to resolve business disputes and boost his run for the White House. Underwood's lawsuit, filed last spring, alleges that Trump and his family illegally operated the foundation as an extension of his businesses and his presidential campaign will continue.

The attorney general said the foundation operated as "little more than a checkbook to serve Mr. Trump's business and political interests."

Lawyers for the foundation have said any infractions were minor.