Donald Trump can't donate $1 million from his foundation to Houston because it's under investigation
President Donald Trump (AFP/File / Jim Watson)

On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced that he'd be donating $1 million to Hurricane Harvey relief in Houston to much fanfare.


But the same journalist who documented his failure to follow through with a similarly-sized donation during 2012's Hurricane Sandy said that might not be possible.

"It's my understanding that [the Trump Foundation] can't make donations now, while it's under investigation by NY AG," Washington Post's David Farenthold tweeted Friday night.

The tweet was in response to White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee-Sanders' saying she hadn't yet asked the president whether the funds would come from Trump's personal checkbook or from his foundation.

The Donald J. Trump Foundation has been under investigation by the New York attorney general since before the election, when news broke that the then-candidate "donated" $25,000 to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to drop their investigation into his controversial Trump University.

The Eric Trump Foundation is also under investigation by the New York AG after reports revealed the father and son foundations were "self-dealing" funds to each other.