During a panel discussion featuring world leaders and philanthropists in New York on Thursday afternoon, Alex Soros said the $23 billion philanthropic organization he leads would not cave to pressure from President Donald Trump.
Soros, the son of billionaire investor and Democratic megadonor George Soros, defiantly told attendees that the organization had done nothing wrong and would back away from its human rights work "over my dead body," according to two people who attended the panel who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it was an invitation-only event.
The remarks came in response to a question about a report in The New York Times revealing that a senior Justice Department official had instructed more than a half dozen U.S. attorney's offices to draft plans to investigate the Open Society Foundations, which was started by George Soros.
The nascent investigation comes as Trump is increasingly seeking to deploy federal law enforcement against his perceived enemies, including former FBI Director James Comey, who was indicted Thursday over the objection of career prosecutors. The targeting of Open Society, a pillar of the philanthropy and progressive worlds, is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to cripple the financial and organizational infrastructure supporting Democrat-aligned causes and candidates.
The effort has intensified since the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Trump and his administration have asserted without evidence that liberal groups are stoking a violent conspiracy against conservative values and the American way of life. He signed a presidential memorandum Thursday ordering his administration to investigate what he claimed were rich people and organizations funding left-wing political violence around the country.
The cumulative effect has left philanthropic and progressive donor communities on edge.
"This moment is dangerous for all of us because organizations are being targeted because of what and who they fund and because it is perceived that they are funding things that don't align with the political preferences of a particular administration, of this administration, and that is wrong," said Akilah Watkins, the president and CEO of Independent Sector, the national membership organization representing nonprofits and philanthropic foundations.
A skittishness has taken over the Ford Foundation, according to three people in touch with it, which owns the building where Alex Soros spoke on the panel Thursday. The Ford Foundation was called out by Vice President JD Vance alongside Open Society after the assassination.
Even before this week, the $16 billion foundation had been scrutinizing its distributed grants that officials there fear could be criticized for violating prohibitions on partisan political activity, according to a person close to the foundation. "We are following our standard due diligence practices across our grant making," the foundation said in a statement.
The foundation's board has been concerned about recent doxxing attempts against its directors, according to two people close to the foundation, both of whom requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal foundation matters.
Faced with daunting choices, some in progressive finance circles have moved into a defensive crouch.
Some have stopped sending emails out of concern that they could be subpoenaed in legal cases that the Trump administration could bring. One donor recently expressed concern that even donations made to groups anonymously could be unmasked by the government in a federal inquiry. And foundations are fearful about investigations from Immigration and Customs Enforcement into the immigration status of their employees.
Even before news of the Justice Department's move to investigate Open Society, some major philanthropies declined to sign a letter last week pushing back on Trump's attacks on the sector. They feared that it would be seen as too oppositional to a powerful administration and that a bipartisan approach would be better, according to two people familiar with the conversations. Ford and Open Society signed the letter.
Reid Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn and one of the country's biggest Democratic donors who was named by Trump on Thursday as another potential target, has largely vanished from political giving in 2025 and is much less publicly voluble about his disagreements with Trump, people close to him say.
Still, in the pantheon of megadonors vilified by political opponents, George Soros and the Open Society Foundations stand alone.
George Soros has personally been among the top donors to Democratic candidates and groups for more than two decades. And his philanthropic organization, established decades ago, has donated more than $24 billion to groups in the United States and around the world for what it calls democracy-building efforts.
In recent years, Soros, who turned 95 last month, has stepped back from day-to-day involvement at the organization and largely receded from the public eye. He did not attend the main festivities for his son Alex's lavish wedding in the Hamptons in June or an event last fall in Washington honoring him that was hosted by the Democracy Alliance donor club he helped establish.
The board of Open Society is now chaired by Alex Soros, 39, who has taken a more hands-on role in Democratic politics and at the organization.
He has been confrontational toward Trump on social media. And people close to him say he is privately determined to fight back, believing that the nation is on the brink of a deep crisis.
In big-money circles across the political spectrum, there is a sense that picking on the Soroses and their philanthropy could backfire.
On the right, there is concern that the offensive could set a precedent that might be used to target conservative nonprofits and donors the next time Democrats control the White House.
And on the left, some are cheered that Open Society's resources and history make it better positioned to fight back than other smaller or newer groups.
Yet a mood of dark humor has emerged in the Soros orbit -- and the larger philanthropic sector.
On Wednesday night, at a cocktail reception in New York hosted by Open Society, a foundation official joked to the crowd -- which included Alex Soros and the foundation president, Binaifer Nowrojee -- that they should enjoy the party because it might be their last night of freedom before they were imprisoned.
Soros, the son of billionaire investor and Democratic megadonor George Soros, defiantly told attendees that the organization had done nothing wrong and would back away from its human rights work "over my dead body," according to two people who attended the panel who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it was an invitation-only event.
The remarks came in response to a question about a report in The New York Times revealing that a senior Justice Department official had instructed more than a half dozen U.S. attorney's offices to draft plans to investigate the Open Society Foundations, which was started by George Soros.
The nascent investigation comes as Trump is increasingly seeking to deploy federal law enforcement against his perceived enemies, including former FBI Director James Comey, who was indicted Thursday over the objection of career prosecutors. The targeting of Open Society, a pillar of the philanthropy and progressive worlds, is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to cripple the financial and organizational infrastructure supporting Democrat-aligned causes and candidates.
The effort has intensified since the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Trump and his administration have asserted without evidence that liberal groups are stoking a violent conspiracy against conservative values and the American way of life. He signed a presidential memorandum Thursday ordering his administration to investigate what he claimed were rich people and organizations funding left-wing political violence around the country.
The cumulative effect has left philanthropic and progressive donor communities on edge.
"This moment is dangerous for all of us because organizations are being targeted because of what and who they fund and because it is perceived that they are funding things that don't align with the political preferences of a particular administration, of this administration, and that is wrong," said Akilah Watkins, the president and CEO of Independent Sector, the national membership organization representing nonprofits and philanthropic foundations.
A skittishness has taken over the Ford Foundation, according to three people in touch with it, which owns the building where Alex Soros spoke on the panel Thursday. The Ford Foundation was called out by Vice President JD Vance alongside Open Society after the assassination.
Even before this week, the $16 billion foundation had been scrutinizing its distributed grants that officials there fear could be criticized for violating prohibitions on partisan political activity, according to a person close to the foundation. "We are following our standard due diligence practices across our grant making," the foundation said in a statement.
The foundation's board has been concerned about recent doxxing attempts against its directors, according to two people close to the foundation, both of whom requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal foundation matters.
Faced with daunting choices, some in progressive finance circles have moved into a defensive crouch.
Some have stopped sending emails out of concern that they could be subpoenaed in legal cases that the Trump administration could bring. One donor recently expressed concern that even donations made to groups anonymously could be unmasked by the government in a federal inquiry. And foundations are fearful about investigations from Immigration and Customs Enforcement into the immigration status of their employees.
Even before news of the Justice Department's move to investigate Open Society, some major philanthropies declined to sign a letter last week pushing back on Trump's attacks on the sector. They feared that it would be seen as too oppositional to a powerful administration and that a bipartisan approach would be better, according to two people familiar with the conversations. Ford and Open Society signed the letter.
Reid Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn and one of the country's biggest Democratic donors who was named by Trump on Thursday as another potential target, has largely vanished from political giving in 2025 and is much less publicly voluble about his disagreements with Trump, people close to him say.
Still, in the pantheon of megadonors vilified by political opponents, George Soros and the Open Society Foundations stand alone.
George Soros has personally been among the top donors to Democratic candidates and groups for more than two decades. And his philanthropic organization, established decades ago, has donated more than $24 billion to groups in the United States and around the world for what it calls democracy-building efforts.
In recent years, Soros, who turned 95 last month, has stepped back from day-to-day involvement at the organization and largely receded from the public eye. He did not attend the main festivities for his son Alex's lavish wedding in the Hamptons in June or an event last fall in Washington honoring him that was hosted by the Democracy Alliance donor club he helped establish.
The board of Open Society is now chaired by Alex Soros, 39, who has taken a more hands-on role in Democratic politics and at the organization.
He has been confrontational toward Trump on social media. And people close to him say he is privately determined to fight back, believing that the nation is on the brink of a deep crisis.
In big-money circles across the political spectrum, there is a sense that picking on the Soroses and their philanthropy could backfire.
On the right, there is concern that the offensive could set a precedent that might be used to target conservative nonprofits and donors the next time Democrats control the White House.
And on the left, some are cheered that Open Society's resources and history make it better positioned to fight back than other smaller or newer groups.
Yet a mood of dark humor has emerged in the Soros orbit -- and the larger philanthropic sector.
On Wednesday night, at a cocktail reception in New York hosted by Open Society, a foundation official joked to the crowd -- which included Alex Soros and the foundation president, Binaifer Nowrojee -- that they should enjoy the party because it might be their last night of freedom before they were imprisoned.
You may also like
Search operation launched after suspected Pakistan drone spotted in J&K's Samba
Educating Yorkshire viewers in tears as 'inspirational' original Channel 4 star returns
'Operation Sindoor On The Games Field': PM Modi Congratulates Team India For Record Ninth Asia Cup Title
[WATCH] Asia Cup 2025, Final: Arshdeep, Jitesh, Harshit mimic Abrar Ahmed's trademark celebration as India defeat Pakistan
Ryder Cup LIVE: USA set up nervous finale as Europe edge to victory
