On Friday, former President Donald Trump intensified his attacks on billionaire financier George Soros and his family, hinting that his administration could seek racketeering charges under the RICO Act. Speaking on Fox & Friends, Trump made one of his boldest statements yet about the prominent Democratic donor, who has long been a focal point of conservative ire.
“We’re going to look into Soros,” Trump said. “I believe that he and others are guilty of RICO.” He alleged that Soros and his affiliated organizations were funding and organizing civil unrest across the U.S., suggesting the protests were not acts of free speech but part of a coordinated effort to destabilize the nation.
The RICO Act—short for the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act—is a federal law typically used to prosecute organized crime groups like drug cartels and the Mafia. It empowers federal prosecutors to charge individuals or groups engaged in an ongoing pattern of criminal activity under a unified structure. By referencing RICO, Trump appeared to be framing Soros-connected organizations not just as political adversaries, but as entities potentially operating as criminal networks.