Washington, D.C. – As President Donald Trump’s second-term vendettas intensify, conservative firebrands and White House allies are amplifying demands to freeze the assets of billionaire George Soros and his son Alex, accusing their Open Society Foundations of bankrolling “domestic terrorism” through shadowy grants. The push, gaining steam after a New York Times report revealed Justice Department directives to probe the nonprofit, signals a potential financial chokehold on one of America’s largest Democratic donors.
Soros, 94, whose $23 billion philanthropic empire has funneled over $24 billion to human rights, democracy, and equity causes since the 1990s, has long been a bogeyman for the right. Trump, in an August Truth Social post, branded the duo “radical left” enablers of “violent protests,” demanding RICO charges – a mafia-busting statute – for allegedly funding unrest from Black Lives Matter to Antifa cells. A senior DOJ official’s September 25 memo instructed over half a dozen U.S. attorney’s offices to draft investigation plans, a stark departure from norms insulating the agency from politics, sources say.
The freeze calls echo a 2016 Change.org petition and Rudy Giuliani’s 2018 retweet labeling Soros the “anti-Christ,” but now carry real teeth. Rep. Jim Jordan, chairing the House weaponization subcommittee, urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to seize assets under anti-terror financing laws, citing unproven ties to “extremist violence.” “Soros isn’t funding democracy; he’s funding division,” Jordan declared at a Capitol hearing. Trump’s August comment that Soros was a “likely candidate” for scrutiny has DOJ spokesman Chad Gilmartin defending probes into “organizations that conspire to commit acts of violence.”
The Open Society Foundations fired back, denouncing the moves as “politically motivated attacks on civil society” aimed at silencing dissent and eroding First Amendment rights. Alex Soros, who assumed a larger role last year, vowed defiance at a Manhattan panel: “We’ll back down over my dead body.” With $1.2 billion disbursed in 2024 – including $242 million domestically – a freeze could cripple progressive causes from criminal justice reform to immigrant aid.
As midterms loom, the Soros saga exemplifies Trump’s playbook: probe, prosecute, paralyze. For MAGA loyalists, it’s draining the swamp; for critics like Sen. Chuck Schumer, it’s mafia-state authoritarianism. With USAID’s 90-day budget freeze already slashing Soros-linked grants, the family’s fortune hangs in the balance – a billionaire’s billions versus a president’s grudge.
