On Thursday, September 25, 2025, the political landscape in the United States took a sharp turn as President Donald Trump ordered a sweeping crackdown on what he described as "left-wing terrorism." The directive, announced from the White House and immediately echoed across federal agencies, instructed the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Taskforce, the Treasury Department, and other agencies to investigate the financial backers of groups accused of funding violent protests. In a move that instantly set off alarm bells across the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors, Trump singled out two of the Democratic Party’s most prominent donors: billionaire philanthropists George Soros and Reid Hoffman.
"If they are funding these things, they're going to have some problems," Trump warned, according to The New York Times. His comments followed a string of violent incidents, including the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Utah and a deadly shooting outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas. While authorities have identified suspects in both cases, no evidence has emerged publicly to support claims of a broader conspiracy or organized funding network behind the violence.
Just hours after Trump's announcement, Alex Soros, son of George Soros and current chair of the $23 billion Open Society Foundations, addressed a panel in Manhattan. His message was clear and defiant: "We will not back away from our human rights work over my dead body," he declared, according to two attendees who spoke to The New York Times on condition of anonymity. This bold stance came as news broke that the Justice Department, under the direction of senior official Aakash Singh, had instructed more than six U.S. attorney’s offices—including those in California, New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Detroit, and Maryland—to prepare investigative plans targeting groups funded by Soros.
The potential charges spelled out in the Justice Department’s directive are serious: arson, racketeering, wire fraud, and material support for terrorism. The memo cited a report from the conservative Capital Research Center, which claimed the Open Society Foundations "has poured over $80 million into groups tied to terrorism or extremist violence." One organization named in the report, al-Haq, is a Palestinian human rights group that was declared a terrorist organization by Israel in 2022—a designation Open Society Foundations strongly disputed, arguing it was unsupported by credible evidence and intended to silence human rights defenders.
Amid the escalating rhetoric, the Open Society Foundations issued a statement pushing back against the accusations. "These accusations are politically motivated attacks on civil society, meant to silence speech the administration disagrees with and undermine the First Amendment right to free speech," the organization stated. "Our activities are peaceful and lawful." The foundation, established by George Soros in the 1980s, has donated more than $24 billion to democracy-building efforts worldwide, including significant support for human rights, democracy, and equity programs in the United States.
Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn and PayPal and another major Democratic donor named by Trump, has reportedly scaled back his political giving in 2025 and has become less publicly vocal about his disagreements with the president, according to people close to him cited by The New York Times.
The Justice Department’s spokesperson, Chad Gilmartin, sought to frame the new directive as a matter of public safety. "This DOJ, along with our hardworking and dedicated U.S. attorneys, will always prioritize public safety and investigate organizations that conspire to commit acts of violence or other federal violations of law," he said.
But the impact of Trump’s order has rippled far beyond the Open Society Foundations. The Ford Foundation, a $16 billion philanthropic powerhouse, has been quietly reviewing its grant-making practices for months, worried that its activities could be scrutinized for violating prohibitions on partisan political activity. The tense atmosphere became palpable when the foundation abruptly canceled a dinner honoring its departing president, Darren Walker, citing security concerns and a desire to keep a lower profile. "We always take the security of our staff, leadership and partners seriously," the Ford Foundation said in a statement.
Other progressive donors and organizations are also feeling the pressure. Some have stopped sending emails, fearing that their communications could be subpoenaed in legal cases brought by the Trump administration. There are even concerns that anonymous donations could be unmasked in federal inquiries, and that Immigration and Customs Enforcement could investigate the immigration status of nonprofit employees. According to The New York Times, some major philanthropies declined to sign a recent letter defending the sector against Trump’s attacks, worried that it would be seen as too oppositional and preferring a bipartisan approach.
Trump’s criticism of George Soros has grown more strident since the killing of Charlie Kirk. In an interview with NBC News, Trump called Soros "a bad guy" who "should be put in jail," and has advocated for charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). On social media, he has accused Soros and his son of supporting violent protests and called for their prosecution.
Alex Soros, now 39 and the public face of the Open Society Foundations, has taken a more confrontational tone toward Trump, both in public and behind the scenes. In an April email to staff, he wrote, "We do not know what will come, or what threats it may carry, but we are certain that we will not cede any ground without a fight nor be cowed into silence." He emphasized that the organization operates "within the bounds of the law while also refusing to surrender our legal and constitutional rights to free speech, association, due process and the rule of law without challenge."
The Capital Research Center report at the heart of the Justice Department’s directive did not accuse Open Society of directly bankrolling or ordering specific violent acts. Instead, it highlighted statements made by organizations funded by Soros that applauded acts like Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel or encouraged disruptive protest tactics. Many of these U.S.-based nonprofits are legal entities with diverse funding sources. For example, the Center for Third World Organizing received only about 2 percent of its revenue from Soros’s groups between 2020 and 2023, with the rest coming from other major philanthropies and financial institutions.
Inside Open Society and among its allies, there is a mix of anxiety and resolve. Some worry that a drawn-out federal investigation could drain resources and distract from core programming. Yet there’s also a sense that standing firm could set a precedent for resisting political intimidation, much as Harvard University did when pressured by the Trump administration. A mood of dark humor has even emerged; at a recent foundation cocktail reception, a staffer joked that the gathering might be their "last night of freedom before they were imprisoned."
Across the political spectrum, the precedent being set is not lost on observers. Some conservatives fear that targeting donors now could open the door to similar actions against right-leaning nonprofits if the political winds shift. Meanwhile, progressives see the Open Society Foundations’ deep resources and long history as a potential bulwark for defending civil society against government overreach.
As the dust settles on this latest clash between philanthropy and politics, one thing is clear: the battle lines over the future of American civil society, free speech, and political giving are being drawn in ways that could shape the country’s democracy for years to come.
