Updated September 29, 2025 at 5:33 PM EDT
The foundation started by billionaire Democratic donor George Soros is responding to a threat of investigation by the U.S. government.
President Trump said Thursday that Soros was "a likely candidate" for prosecution, though it wasn't clear what the charge would be. Soros, a billionaire financier, makes personal donations to Democrats and also founded the Open Society Foundations (OSF), which have donated to causes around the world.
In her first interview since OSF became a target, its president Binaifer Nowrojee spoke with NPR's Steve Inskeep.
"This is not about George Soros," she said. "This is about the United States slowly losing its democracy bit by bit in ways that we've seen elsewhere in the world."
"I grew up in Kenya under dictatorship," she added. "And it is not a good road to go down."
Trump discussed Soros while musing about who he would like to prosecute as the Justice Department more aggressively pursues investigations into some of his perceived enemies. Trump administration officials — including Vice President J.D. Vance and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller have — have talked of a crackdown on liberal groups after the murder of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk, accusing them of fomenting violence.
The OSF insists its activities are peaceful and legal, but it is unclear that this would matter. Last week the government procured an indictment of former FBI director James Comey despite questions about the strength of the case from the top federal prosecutor in Northern Virginia, among others. Trump installed his personal lawyer as an interim U.S. attorney to have Comey prosecuted on charges of lying to Congress. Attorney General Pam Bondi went along with the president, who had urged her in a social media post to prosecute Comey — contradicting her own testimony before Congress that she would act independently. The resulting indictment lacked the supporting evidence that is commonly included in such documents.
The pursuit of OSF would represent an escalation. While Comey was targeted for retribution for his actions while in office, Soros was never in government.
Emily Tamkin, who wrote a book about Soros' influence, asserts that the president is "trying to expand the definition of terrorism" to include "non-profit organizations that he doesn't like because of the work that they do."
You can listen to Nowrojee's interview at the button above. Here are some highlights:
She says OSF is preparing for government pressure
"Everything that we do is legal," Nowrojee said. "Our activities are peaceful and lawful. Our grantees are required by the grant contract to abide by human rights principles and the law. So we have not done anything that we need to do differently. But we are getting ready for whatever comes in by way of investigation or prosecution."
OSF has given billions of dollars in grants around the world
The money has gone to activists, universities, and journalists. A list of recipients includes the American Civil Liberties Union, Arizona for Abortion Access, Amnesty International, and American University — and that's just a few of the A's. Further down the list is a 2016 grant to NPR.
Nowrojee declined to label her work "liberal" or anything else. "A lot of our work is around civic engagement and ensuring that all people have the ability to engage in selecting their government or holding their government accountable. And as a result, we get accused of … trying to overthrow governments … What we're trying to do is ensure that all human beings, wherever they are, have the ability to access their rights."
Soros is a main character in right-wing conspiracy theories
The president appeared to refer to this while naming Soros as a target: "He's in every story that I read. Stories that I read keep talking about Soros. And so, you know, I guess he'd be a likely candidate."
Although Soros, 95, has stepped back from public life, his son Alexander Soros is now chairman of his foundations. Trump has focused on them for years, and in August demanded that both be charged under a racketeering law.
Nowrojee says that some, though not all, Soros' critics are driven by his identity. "George Soros is Jewish by religion, and that also comes up as an issue. And it's ironic, because he's sometimes also accused of being antisemitic, even as he's Jewish."
The OSF president sees a parallel between the U.S. and Hungary
In recent years, the OSF was driven out of Soros' home country, Hungary, by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a right-wing populist seen by many U.S. conservatives as a role model.
"Our support was to universities, independent universities, free media libraries, scholarships. It was the opening up after the Iron Curtain came up," Nowrojee said.
"When Prime Minister Viktor Orbán came in — who, by the way, is a recipient of a scholarship from Open Society Foundations — he basically adopted what we are seeing in the United States, which is this kind of us and them, an enemy. And he turned Open Society Foundation into a political target and vilified in particular, George Soros personally portraying him as an enemy of the state."
OSF eventually had to withdraw from Hungary. But as for the United States, Nowrojee said, "We're not afraid. Open Society has seen this sort of phenomenon of political attacks against us in different parts of the world. We've stood up against that. We remain true to our values and to our mandate to promote rights and equity and justice."
This interview was produced and edited by Kaity Kline and Adam Bearne, with the digital version edited by Obed Manuel.
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