On September 25, 2025, the political spotlight once again turned to billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros, as President Donald Trump publicly labeled him a "likely candidate" for a federal investigation. The remarks, made in the Oval Office, came just days after Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue criminal charges against former FBI Director James Comey, California Senator Adam Schiff, and New York Attorney General Letitia James. The president’s comments, however, were not spontaneous outbursts—they marked the latest escalation in a years-long campaign by Trump and his allies to cast Soros as a shadowy force behind left-leaning causes and, more recently, as a direct threat to American democracy.
"If you look at Soros, he’s at the top of everything," Trump told reporters. "He’s in every story that I read, so I guess he’d be a likely candidate." Only a month earlier, Trump had gone further, asserting on Truth Social that both George Soros and his son, Alex Soros, should face racketeering charges. "George Soros, and his wonderful Radical Left son, should be charged with (violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) because of their support of Violent Protests, and much more, all throughout the United States of America," Trump posted, according to CNN and 9News.
These accusations are not new. For years, Soros has been a favorite target of conspiracy theories, often painted as "the puppet master and the extreme left-wing manipulator"—a label he once used sarcastically to describe himself. Most of these theories have focused on his nonprofit, the Open Society Foundations, which he founded decades ago and which is now chaired by his son, Alex Soros. The foundation, a left-leaning nonprofit, has spent more than $24 billion to date, including $1.2 billion in 2024 alone, according to its own website and reporting by 9News. Its mission, as outlined publicly, centers on expanding access to education and health care, promoting racial justice, reforming drug policy, defending human rights, and tackling climate change and authoritarianism.
The Trump administration’s Justice Department recently cited a report from the conservative Capital Research Center, which alleged that Soros’ Open Society Foundations funneled $80 million to pro-terror groups. The foundation swiftly and unequivocally denied the charges. "The Open Society Foundations unequivocally condemn terrorism and do not fund terrorism. Our activities are peaceful and lawful, and our grantees are expected to abide by human rights principles and comply with the law," the group stated on its website, labeling the accusations as "politically motivated attacks on civil society."
Despite the heated rhetoric, Soros’ philanthropic record is extensive and well-documented. His first major donation, in 1979, provided scholarships to Black South Africans under apartheid—a move that set the tone for decades of activism. In the 1980s, he funded academic exchanges for Eastern European dissidents challenging communism. The foundation’s reach now spans more than 100 countries. Soros’ support for liberal causes is substantial; in 2021, he contributed $125 million to a liberal super PAC, according to OpenSecrets. Yet, as 9News points out, large political donations are hardly unique to the left—Republican megadonors such as Charles Koch, Miriam Adelson, and Timothy Mellon have also poured millions into their preferred causes.
Soros himself has acknowledged his political leanings, but insists on the importance of dialogue and reform. "Though I am often painted as the representative of the far left—and I am certainly not free of political bias—I recognize that the other side is half right in claiming that the government is wasteful and inefficient and ought to function better," Soros said in 2011 remarks at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank co-founded by Koch. Interestingly, in 2020, Soros’ Foundation to Promote Open Society awarded $150,000 to the Cato Institute to support efforts to build consensus on ending qualified immunity and improving police accountability.
One of the more curious intersections between Soros and the Trump administration is embodied by Scott Bessent, the current Treasury Secretary. Trump has called Bessent "one of the most brilliant men on Wall Street." Before joining Trump’s team, Bessent served as managing partner of Soros Fund Management’s London office from 1991 to 2000 and later returned as chief investment officer from 2011 to 2015. When Bessent left Soros Fund Management in 2015, Soros invested $2 billion in Bessent’s new hedge fund, Key Square Group. According to Bloomberg News journalist Ed Ludlow, Bessent even compared Trump to his former boss, saying they shared "similar characteristics and behaviors"—an observation that drew attention at the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in July.
Yet, for many on the political right, Soros remains a symbol of everything they oppose. In May 2023, when an X user defended Soros’ intentions after Elon Musk compared him to the comic book villain Magneto, Musk shot back: "You assume they are good intentions. They are not. He wants to erode the very fabric of civilization. Soros hates humanity." Musk, who campaigned for Trump in 2024, is far from alone. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia declared on X, "No other person has undermined our democracy more than George Soros. Why is (he) still allowed to maintain his citizenship?"
This rhetoric often veers into territory that many see as antisemitic, especially when Soros is labeled a "globalist" or accused of secret manipulation of international finance. In 2022, Fox News aired an episode of "Tucker Carlson Originals" titled "Hungary vs. Soros: The Fight for Civilization," in which Carlson argued, "Unlike the threats from the Soviets and the Ottoman empire, the threat posed by George Soros and his nonprofit organizations is much more subtle and hard to detect."
Soros’ own story is remarkable. Born in Hungary in 1930, he survived the Nazi occupation before moving to London, where he graduated from the London School of Economics in 1952. He immigrated to the United States in 1956, launching a storied career in finance. In 1970, he founded Soros Fund Management, which became the main source of his fortune. Three years later, he and Jim Rogers co-founded the Quantum Fund, a hedge fund that made headlines for profiting from currency devaluations. Soros’ most famous financial coup came in 1992, when he reportedly made $1 billion betting against the British pound on "Black Wednesday."
By 1994, Soros told PBS that he had about $100 million when he began his philanthropic work in 1979. Today, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his net worth stands at $7.5 billion. In 2017, he transferred a staggering $18 billion to the Open Society Foundations, bringing his total giving since 1984 to $32 billion.
Soros has long argued that his financial success imposes a responsibility to speak out. "I occupy an exceptional position. My success in the financial markets has given me a greater degree of independence than most other people. This obliges me to take stands on controversial issues when others cannot, and taking such positions has itself been a source of satisfaction," Soros wrote in a 2011 essay published in The New York Review of Books.
As the debate over Soros’ influence continues to rage, the facts remain: his philanthropy has reshaped civil society across the globe, even as his political adversaries seek to cast him as a villain. The contest over Soros’ legacy—between those who see him as a champion of open societies and those who view him as a dangerous ideologue—shows no sign of abating.
