US president says he is happy to donate $2M to charities as penalty
U.S. President Donald Trump accused the New York attorney general of "mischaracterizing" a court settlement that ordered him pay $2 million to charities for exploiting the Trump Foundation.
"The New York Attorney General is deliberately mischaracterizing this settlement for political purposes," Trump said on Twitter on Thursday.
"In fact, the court rejected the Attorney General's frivolous request for statutory penalties, interest, and other damages," he added.
Calling the long-running lawsuits "four years of politically motivated harassment", Trump said that all they found during this process was "incredibly effective philanthropy and some small technical violations, such as not keeping board minutes."
The U.S. leader also said that the attorney who investigated the Trump Foundation “refuses to do the same for the Clinton Foundation with all of its problems.”
"I am the only person I know, perhaps the only person in history, who can give major money to charity ($19M), charge no expense, and be attacked by the political hacks in New York State," he said.
"No wonder why we are all living," Trump added.
Last Friday, Trump changed his primary residence from Manhattan, New York to Palm Beach, Florida citing that he has been "treated badly by the political leaders of both the city and state".
"We resolved the case with the understanding that all money previously in the foundation has gone to charity," the president said.
“I am therefore happy to donate $2M to the following worthy 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 Capital Area; and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum."
Earlier, Manhattan Supreme Court ordered Trump to pay $2 million to charities already set to receive the foundation’s remaining cash assets as part of a court-approved settlement for using his charity as a checkbook, including his 2016 presidential campaign -- ending a case filed in June 2018.
