Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
In a statement released Saturday afternoon, President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to dissolve the Donald J. Trump Foundation. “[T]o avoid even the appearance of any conflict with my role as President I have decided to continue to pursue my strong interest in philanthropy in other ways,” he said in the statement. “I am very proud of the money that has been raised for many organizations in need, and I am also very proud of the fact that the Foundation has operated at essentially no cost for decades, with 100% of the money going to charity, but because I will be devoting so much time and energy to the Presidency and solving the many problems facing our country and the world, I don’t want to allow good work to be associated with a possible conflict of interest.” The foundation came under constant scrutiny throughout the presidential election as questions arose about its alleged distribution of funds—most notably with a Washington Post investigation that could not verify Trump had given money to veterans organizations as he had publicly claimed.