MacArthur, others call for resistance against Trump’s attack on philanthropy

US civil society and philanthropy organisations fear they may soon be targeted by President Donald Trump’s administration as concerns grow over an increasingly hostile climate for dissenting voices.

As a result, the President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, John Palfrey, has launched a campaign to protect philanthropy’s freedom to give.

The campaign article was co-authored with Tonya Allen, president of the McKnight Foundation, and Deepak Bhargava, a senior fellow at Freedom Together.

The three philanthropy organisations began the campaign to fund democracy, human rights, and social justice initiatives in the US. The MacArthur Foundation also funds initiatives in various countries, including Nigeria, where it has awarded over 800 grants totalling $257 million to 256 organisations and 135 individuals so far.

So far, more than 300 organisations have signed a public solidarity campaign article.

According to the president of the MacArthur Foundation, charitable organisations must resist President Trump’s dictates.

The target organisations are likely to be those that hold views contrary to those of the president and the philanthropic organisation funding them.

Earlier in the year, the president, through an executive order, cancelled 90 per cent of grants and contracts awarded to different grantees and sub-grantees across different countries.

According to The Guardian, Mr Palfrey said philanthropy organisations play a crucial role in the US and in many other countries worldwide.

“We’re a funder that is predominantly giving money in the United States, but we do have work outside the US. There are, of course, questions about if the rest of the world can count on the United States as a charitable partner. And that question is up in the air at the moment,” he said.

He also argued that free expression, the right to donate, and the freedom to invest must be safeguarded, describing them as pillars of any philanthropic mission.

“We have an opportunity to unite and advance,” he said. “There’s a chance here for us to stand together on a series of very important bedrock principles, and do so with linked arms, and do so in such a way that allows us to serve every community in America in a way that will ensure a strong republic for years to come.”

Several non-profit organisations and human rights advocates have described Mr Trump’s leadership as an authoritarian government that is likely to cause an unprecedented rollback in the country’s democracy and human rights progress.

Trump’s authoritarian power grasp

Some have accused him of following the pattern of the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, who launched an authoritarian power grab as soon as he came into power. He consolidated power by rewriting Hungary’s constitution.

His policies are also said to have weakened the country’s judicial independence, manipulated electoral boundaries, curtailed media freedom, and eroded institutional checks and balances, while also violating the fundamental rights and liberties of Hungarian citizens.

Mr Trump and Mr Orbán have openly praised each other’s policies and governance styles.

The Hungarian Prime Minister was among the few world leaders who endorsed Mr Trump during the 2016 US presidential election and has met with the American leader on multiple occasions.

In 2019, during Mr Orbán’s visit to the White House, Mr Trump praised his leadership, describing him as “highly respected.”

A US lawyer and activist, Ian Bassin, said that with the existing pattern indicating that President Trump is adopting the Orban playbook, CSOs are likely to be targeted.

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“Those attacks don’t begin with tanks in the streets. They start with something quieter: a smear campaign, a sudden tax audit, a whisper of investigation,” he said.

“Civil society becomes the target, and the justification is always the same: These groups are not truly patriotic. They are foreign-backed. Corrupt. Dangerous. Even “terrorists.”

In the campaign article, the co-authors stated that philanthropy faced the threat of governmental attacks against its mission.

“We don’t all share the same beliefs or priorities. Neither do our donors nor the communities we serve,” they said.