Left-Leaning Nonprofits Push Back on Trump’s Crackdown Threats 

Over 100 progressive nonprofit groups are joining together to push back against the Trump administration’s recent threats to investigate and dismantle left-leaning organizations in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder.

Administration officials, including President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, have claimed, without evidence, that major liberal nonprofits fund and promote violence in the U.S.

The White House’s attempt to link Kirk’s murder to progressive causes and groups has heightened fears that Trump and his allies seek to exploit the killing to further attack institutions that power the political left.

In an open letter Wednesday, the organizations — including the Open Society Foundations (OSF), a progressive grant network founded by Democratic megadonor George Soros, and the Ford Foundation — condemned political violence and warned that recent threats to crack down on philanthropic organizations “undermine our democracy and harm all Americans.”

“Organizations should not be attacked for carrying out their missions or expressing their values in support of the communities they serve,” the letter read. “We reject attempts to exploit political violence to mischaracterize our good work or restrict our fundamental freedoms, like freedom of speech and the freedom to give.”

Both OSF and the Ford Foundation were singled out by White House officials in recent days. Republicans have long claimed without evidence that Soros funds violent protests in the U.S.

The president late last week said that his administration would “look into” Soros for possible violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law and asserted in an interview with NBC News that Soros must be “jailed” because “he’s a bad guy.”

Vance Monday falsely alleged that the two organizations pay “the salaries of terrorist sympathizers” and “promote violence and terrorism.”

Since returning to the White House, Trump has repeatedly threatened to strip left-leaning organizations of their tax exemptions by redefining the nonprofit and charity qualifications of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) even though only Congress has the constitutional authority to make broad changes to the tax code.

Federal law also bars executive branch officials from directing the IRS to conduct specific tax-related investigations. 

Vance explicitly highlighted the tax exempt statuses of OSF and the Ford Foundation.

“They are literally subsidized by you and me, the American taxpayer,” Vance said. “And how do they reward us? By setting fire to the house built by the American family over 250 years.”

Other signers of the letter include the MacArthur Foundation, the Knight Foundation, the Mellon Foundation and the Democracy Fund.

“At a moment that is fragile and fraught, we must rise to the higher standard we all collectively desire. Now is a moment for leadership that drives unity rather than sows further division,” the organizations said in Wednesday’s letter.

“Our organizations will continue focusing on helping people across all backgrounds, geographies, ideologies, and belief systems, to heal, thrive, and live peacefully together, protected by the freedoms guaranteed in our Constitution.”