Foundation ordered to pay $2M.

A New York state judge ordered President Donald Trump to pay $2 million in damages to nonprofit groups Wednesday after the president admitted misusing money raised by the Donald J. Trump Foundation to promote his presidential bid, pay off business debts and purchase a portrait of himself for one of his hotels.

The damage award brought an end to a protracted legal battle over the foundation, whose giving patterns and management became a flashpoint during Trump’s run for office in 2016. New York’s attorney general had filed suit last year accusing Trump and his family of using the foundation as an extension of his businesses and his presidential campaign.

The settlement, which was finalized last month, included a detailed admission of misconduct that is rare for the president, who has long employed a scorched- earth approach toward fighting lawsuits.

Among Trump’s admissions: The charity gave his campaign complete control over disbursing the $2.8 million that the foundation had raised at a fundraiser for veterans in Iowa in January 2016, only days before the state’s presidential nominating caucuses. The fundraiser, he acknowledged, was in fact a campaign event.

The president also admitted to using the foundation to settle the legal obligations of companies he owned, including Mara-Lago, his private club in Florida, and the Trump National Golf Club in Westchester County, New York. And he acknowledged that the foundation purchased the $10,000 portrait of Trump, which was ultimately displayed at one of his Florida hotels.

Once billed as the charitable arm of the president’s financial empire, the Trump Foundation closed its doors in December, six months after the attorney general’s office sued.

In her ruling, Justice Saliann Scarpulla of state Supreme Court in Manhattan found that Trump had in fact “breached his fiduciary duty” by using the foundation to advance his business and political interests.