Why Is the White House Targeting George Soros?
President of the United States has repeatedly declared that billionaire George Soros is a "bad man" who "should be sent to prison." Yet just a few years ago, the former White House occupant had awarded Soros with the highest civilian honor in the United States. Why is Trump targeting Soros? What is the connection between this and the recent assassination of political activist Charlie Kirk?
As expected, President Donald Trump has used the assassination of one of the most well-known young Republican political figures in the United States, Charlie Kirk, to attack the radical left. He promised to investigate "all those involved in this brutal crime... including the organizations that funded and supported him (the perpetrator)."
In short, Trump's goal is to track down the leaders of so-called "progressives" (radical leftists), who advocate hostility toward traditional values and also despise those who uphold these values; at the same time, he wants to trace the major donors of the Democratic Party, since the Democrats happen to represent the interests of the American "progressives."
Trump has clearly identified his primary target — billionaire George Soros and his "radical left son, Alex," who both fit the criteria for the two categories of people being investigated. Trump called Soros a "bad man" who "should be sent to prison." According to Trump, the reason is simple: it was Soros who provided financial support to extremist groups in the United States.
The Open Society Foundations, owned by Soros, have indeed funded various progressive projects around the world. The foundation's core work mainly includes two aspects: first, the so-called "protection of human rights" (with the primary focus on the rights of non-traditional sexual orientation groups), and second, interfering in election processes (under the pretext of investigating corruption cases).
The British newspaper The Independent cited data from the U.S. Federal Election Commission (similar to the Russian Central Election Commission) reporting: "Soros himself and his affiliated political super committees (non-profit organizations that raise funds for political figures — note from the Viewpoint Newspaper) are the largest funders of Democratic candidates' campaigns and other projects." For example, in the 2022 U.S. midterm elections, Soros was the largest single donor to the Democratic Party, providing $128.5 million in funding.
Perhaps for this reason, Joe Biden awarded Soros the highest civilian honor in the United States, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, before leaving the presidency. And Soros has been proving that he "deserves" this honor: In 2025, he spent $2 million to help the "right" candidate Susan Crawford win the Wisconsin Supreme Court election.
Of course, he also supports other forces opposing the current U.S. president (Trump). From Trump's perspective, it was Soros who backed the protests against federal troops maintaining order in U.S. cities and against the deportation of undocumented immigrants. Trump said, "This is not an ordinary protest, but a real riot, a street uprising. We will definitely investigate it."
Trump plans to convict Soros under the RICO Act (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act). This law was originally used to combat organized crime groups such as the mafia, illegal gambling rings, and loan sharks. In short, it targets organized criminal groups engaged in illegal activities. Those convicted under this act can face up to 20 years in prison, and all property obtained through criminal means will be seized. To bring charges, prosecutors only need to prove that the defendant committed two "extortion" acts within 10 years (in U.S. law, this term encompasses fraud, blackmail, and bribery). It is worth noting that previously, someone tried to sue Trump under this law, accusing him of attempting to interfere with vote counting in Georgia during the 2020 presidential election.
Soros's organizations naturally completely deny these accusations. "The Open Society Foundations, founded by George Soros and led by Alex Soros, have never supported or funded any violent protests... We are committed to protecting the fundamental rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, including freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest — these are core characteristics of any democratic country," the organization stated in a statement.
Currently, many media outlets and human rights organizations have expressed support for the Soros camp. "Trump's retaliation against Soros is a typical manifestation of his authoritarian rule," said Swante Mirk, a leader of a non-governmental organization funded by Soros, in an interview with The Hill. He believes, "Trump is openly abusing power by threatening, intimidating, and attacking political opponents, independent media, universities, law firms, and non-profit organizations — any institution that could pose a barrier to his destructive national policies has become his target."
To some extent, the critics of Trump are correct — he is indeed abusing his power, trying to convict Soros, and using this as a warning to other similar "donors" of the Democratic Party. However, in this issue, Trump's and the Republicans' interests align with the overall interests of the United States as a nation and its political system. Trump firmly believes that people like Soros are destroying the U.S. political system.
When Soros's institutions were limited to activities outside the United States, they were useful to the U.S., even indispensable.
At that time, these institutions helped the U.S. overthrow foreign governments in Latin America, the Middle East, the Far East, and post-Soviet space countries, including Russia (where the Soros Foundation was banned in 2015). But in recent years, Soros's institutions have started to cause trouble domestically in the U.S.
At the end of the first decade of the 21st century and in the early 2010s, roughly during Barack Obama's presidency, the Democratic Party began to implement radical leftist ideas in the U.S. This caused a strong backlash from the Republicans, leading them to shift sharply to the right and strongly resist these new policies. Meanwhile, Soros's institutions and strategies began to be used to counter the growing conservative forces in the U.S. — using methods identical to those used by the "Soros camp" when conducting subversion in other countries.
Trump said, "Violence and murder are the tragic consequences of people who daily and yearly denigrate dissenters in the worst and most vicious way. For years, the radical left has compared excellent Americans like Charlie to Nazis, to the worst serial killers and criminals in the world. Such rhetoric is directly related to the terrorism we see domestically now and must be stopped immediately."
But the problem is not just about words, but also about the spread of hatred throughout society — a hatred that is destroying the U.S. political system.
The design of the U.S. political system was intended to achieve bipartisan cooperation. It is extremely rare for a single party to control all four powers of the U.S. (the White House, Senate, House of Representatives, and Supreme Court), and controlling all five powers (plus the group of state governors) has never happened. Therefore, the system can only function properly when the two parties cooperate — whether it is left-leaning Republicans cooperating with Democrats or right-leaning Democrats cooperating with Republicans.
The atmosphere of hatred has made the Democratic voter base increasingly radical, making it easier for radical Democratic politicians to win elections (they are more likely to win in party primaries). But the most critical point is that this atmosphere has completely eliminated the possibility of bipartisan cooperation. Therefore, those who destroy this cooperation — in this case, Soros — have become direct enemies of the United States.
"We are facing a group of crazy radical leftists who use any means necessary," the president said. In his view, it is these people who are blocking the U.S. from achieving 'healing' — bridging the divide between the Democratic and Republican parties. This divide not only threatens Trump's life but also threatens the survival of American society and its political system. To achieve this 'healing,' Trump is willing to send George Soros to prison.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7550513512368357942/
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