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Why Trump—And The Right—Want To Take Down Billionaire George Soros

The billionaire philanthropist—one of the great funders of left-wing causes—has been tied to numerous false claims for decades.

Topline

Billionaire George Soros, dogged by wild conspiracy theories for decades, has become a constant target for President Donald Trump, who has threatened a federal investigation—though some of the DOJ's initial argument against Soros has already fallen apart.

George Soros Speaks At Carnegie Endowment
The billionaire philanthropist—one of the great funders of left-wing causes—has been tied to numerous false claims for decades. Getty Images

 

Timeline

Sept. 30: Trump told top military generals Tuesday the U.S. faced an “invasion from within” in Democrat-run cities Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, which Trump said became “very unsafe places” amid protests opposing his administration, alleging with no evidence “a lot of these insurrectionists are paid by … Soros or other people.”

Sept. 15: Vice President JD Vance claimed the Open Society Foundations were among “agitators” that Vance claimed were responsible for protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, noting he would “go after the NGO network that … engages in violence.”

Vance separately alleged Soros’ philanthropy receives “generous tax treatment” and funds The Nation, a magazine Vance accused of misquoting Kirk, though the publication told Politico it has never received support from Soros or the Open Society Foundations.

Aug. 27: Trump called for George Soros and his son Alex Soros to face racketeering and corruption charges for allegedly funding “violent protests” across the U.S., writing, “Soros, and his group of psychopaths, have caused great damage to our Country!”

March 8: Elon Musk alleged Soros and fellow billionaire Reid Hoffman were responsible for protests targeting Tesla, claiming Democratic-affiliated groups were behind the protests while citing an “investigation” that proved Soros and others were to blame, yet the world’s wealthiest man did not provide specific evidence.

Trump Threatens Soros With Domestic Terrorism Investigation, But...

While blaming left-wing groups for coordinating political violence after Charlie Kirk’s assassination last month, Trump said he would launch domestic terrorism probes into radical groups and individuals, including Soros, though he did not present evidence of any wrongdoing by the billionaire. A senior Justice Department official has since instructed several U.S. attorneys’ offices to draft plans to investigate Soros’ philanthropy, the Open Society Foundations, as a Trump administration official repeated right-wing claims an alleged $80 million in donations from the charity to “groups tied to terrorism or extremist violence,” the New York Times reported (Open Society Foundations decried the claims as “politically motivated attacks on civil society”). When nudging prosecutors to prosecute Soros, however, the Justice Department cited a report from Capital Research Center, a conservative watchdog group, which does not explicitly show Soros’ philanthropy knowingly paid grantees to break the law, or that funds received from the Open Society Foundations were used to commit acts of violence or terrorism. But Capital Research Center president Scott Walter told the Times his group had not found evidence that Soros’ philanthropy had committed a crime, noting they were “surprised” the DOJ suggested prosecutors use the report.

What Else Has Donald Trump Said About George Soros?

Trump has long been a critic of the Soros family and supported many of the theories surrounding George Soros over the last decade. In an ad at the end of his first presidential campaign, Trump condemns the “corrupt political establishment” while claiming his administration would “take back this country for you” as images of Soros, former Fed Chair Janet Yellen and Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, all of whom are Jewish, were featured. The Anti-Defamation League and Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., called out Trump for promoting the antisemitic trope that Jewish figures controlled the government. In 2023, Trump falsely claimed Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg opened an investigation into hush money payments Trump made to adult film star Stormy Daniels because Bragg was paid by Soros. Trump’s claim appeared to be rooted in a $1 million donation Soros made to the Color of Change PAC, which spent nearly $500,000 in support of Bragg’s 2021 campaign, in addition to a $7 million donation a nonprofit affiliated with the Open Society Foundations gave to Color of Change’s 501(c)(4). Soros denied the conspiracy and said of Bragg, “I don’t know him,” and he believed “some on the right” would prefer to focus on the “far-fetched” theories linking him to Bragg rather than the “serious charges against the former president.”

Why Does Open Society Face So Many Conspiracies?

The Open Society Foundations works as a global network of grant-making foundations, research initiatives and advocacy programs. The funding largely backs groups, large and small, that promote human rights, equity and justice reform. Soros founded the philanthropy in 1979 and began funding scholarships for Black college students in South Africa during apartheid, and throughout the 1980s, the philanthropy funded efforts to open communication in communist Eastern Europe. In recent years, the Open Society Foundations have pledged millions to tackle ethnic discrimination in Europe, advance green economic development in South America, and support groups in the U.S. that promote women’s health and voting reform, among other issues. Alex Soros, George’s son, was put in charge of the foundation in 2023.

Does Open Society Pay Protestors?

Conspiracy theories spread on social media over the last decade have falsely claimed Soros funded protests after Trump’s 2016 election, Black Lives Matter protests in 2016 and in 2020 and pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses, while other theories allege Soros operated antifa. Open Society Foundations do fund organizations that often participate in such protests, but there’s no evidence they fund the protests directly. Meanwhile, antifa, a decentralized and seemingly leaderless political movement, was designated by Trump as a domestic terrorist organization in September. Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. And Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., falsely linked Soros and his philanthropy to antifa multiple times over the last decade, claiming he was responsible for funding antifa protests throughout Trump’s first presidency. In 2018, Trump baselessly accused Soros of funding protests throughout Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination hearing, and more recently tied Soros to alleged “left-wing terrorism.” The Open Society Foundations has repeatedly denied claims it has paid protestors or coordinated protests, adding it opposes “all forms of violence, including violent protests.”

Big Number

$24.2 billion. That’s how much Soros’ Open Society Foundations has reported spending on its programs over more than three decades, according to the philanthropy. The foundation disbursed more than $1.2 billion last year, with the majority ($242 million) allocated in the U.S., followed by Latin America and the Caribbean ($117.1 million), Europe and Central Asia ($83.7 million) and Africa ($69.9 million). In 2017, Soros transferred $18 billion of his wealth to the Open Society Foundations, bringing his total giving since 1984 to over $32 billion.

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What Do We Know About George Soros’ Political Affiliations?

Soros has been broadly associated with left-leaning and progressive ideas for decades while his Open Society Foundations have donated to liberal causes. In the U.S., Soros has been a critic of the war on drugs for decades, supported same-sex marriage efforts, migrant protections, promoted criminal justice reform and was a vocal proponent of legalizing medical marijuana, among other issues. During the 2004 presidential election, Soros indicated it was the “central focus of my life” to oust former President George W. Bush, whom Soros accused of being guided by a “supremacist ideology” while comparing his presidency to the Nazi regime. Soros donated roughly $23.6 million to Democratic PACs, including $12 million to Joint Victory Campaign 2004. Soros was among the prominent donors for PACs supporting former President Barack Obama’s campaign in 2008 and his inauguration fund. Soros contributed about $6 million to efforts backing Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016. In recent years, Soros has criticized Trump as a “con man and the ultimate narcissist,” saying in 2021 the “world would be a better place” if neither Trump nor Chinese President Xi Jinping were in power.

When Did The Soros Conspiracy Theories Begin?

Broader criticism and antisemitic claims targeting Soros appeared to emerge in the 1990s, as his Quantum fund bet against the British pound and currencies in Asia. Then-Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad accused Soros of intentionally devaluing Malaysia’s ringgit and claimed a Jewish-led plot was disrupting Malaysia’s economy, claiming it was a “Jew who triggered the currency plunge, and coincidentally, Soros is a Jew.” Hungary’s ruling party accused Soros of leading a Jewish-led effort in 1992 to suppress the country’s economic growth after the Soviet Union’s collapse. One prominent Hungarian politician at the time called Soros a puppet of “Jerusalem.” The ADL said Soros became a “lightning rod” for right-wing groups who objected to his support of liberal causes as his Open Society Foundations expanded operations. As Soros became a symbol of Jewish “control, wealth and power,” criticism of his philanthropic efforts and political beliefs started promoting traditional antisemitic tropes, including the “puppet master” theory, according to the American Jewish Committee.

Soros Accused By Conservative Pundits As Being Liberal ‘puppet Master’

Right-wing U.S. commentators began accusing Soros of manipulating Democratic politics after his opposition to Bush and then financially backed Barack Obama’s campaign. Since 2010, several conservative pundits have targeted Soros: Fox News’ Glenn Beck accused Soros of being a “puppet master”; Bill O’Reilly called Soros an “extremist” who was “off-the-charts dangerous”; Rush Limbaugh claimed Soros was “pulling the marionette strings” during Obama’s presidency. InfoWars host and right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones called Soros “evil,” alleged Soros operated a “Jewish mafia” and orchestrated efforts to overthrow the U.S. government. The pundits’ attacks on Soros were widely characterized and condemned as antisemitic.

Soros Bizarrely Accused Of Collaborating With Nazis

Another baseless conspiracy theory circulated on social media in 2018 claiming Soros, whose family survived the Nazi’s occupation of Hungary and the Holocaust, collaborated with the Nazis. The movement gained steam after actress Roseanne Barr, who spread several conspiracies in a social media frenzy, wrote, “George Soros is a Nazi who turned in his fellow Jews [to] be murdered in German concentration camps and stole their wealth.” Barr’s message was shared by Donald Trump Jr., who later denied having shared “anything that was antisemitic.” Alex Jones supported Barr’s claims and alleged Soros admitted to collaborating with Nazis in a 1998 interview—though Soros told “60 Minutes” he experienced a “tremendous evil, a very personal experience of evil.”

Surprising Fact

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly served under Soros when Quantum Fund bet against the British pound. David Smick, an adviser to Soros at the time, told the Times that Bessent “could see the vulnerabilities in a way that most other people in the financial markets didn’t see.”

How Did George Soros Become A Billionaire?

Forbes ranked Soros the seventh-wealthiest person in the world in 2011 with an estimated net worth of $22 billion, his first time among the 10 richest. He fell out of the top 10 after Soros placed most of his wealth with his philanthropy in 2017, and he now ranks the 483rd-richest person with a net worth estimated at $7.5 billion. Born in Hungary in 1930, Soros departed Budapest in 1947 for London, where he worked as a railway porter and waiter to financially support his studies at the London School of Economics, according to his philanthropy, the Open Society Foundations. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1956 and worked as a trader in New York City until 1970, when Soros cofounded his hedge fund, later known as the Quantum Fund, which reportedly had a 32% annual return on investment through 1999. The Quantum Fund was converted to a family office to manage the Soros family wealth in 2011.

Author: Editors Desk

Source: Forbes Magazine:::

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