The Foreign Policy Initiative, a well-known, right-leaning think tank in Washington, is shutting down its operations.
FPI will close this summer, most likely in August, according to four sources with knowledge of the situation.
The think tank was founded in 2009 and its primary seed donor was Republican hedge-fund billionaire Paul Singer, among other benefactors. Singer was critical of President Trump during his presidential campaign, saying last summer that the then-candidate’s trade policies were “close to a guarantee of a global depression—widespread global depression.” But the two have appeared to make amends since Trump’s election.
“Even before the election, Paul, I think, had some questions about whether FPI was providing enough return for his investment in terms of moving the needle on things,” said one veteran Republican foreign-policy hand familiar with the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Like a lot of things, after the election of Trump, the question was: What are they going to do?”
Singer “decided to reduce the amount of money he was giving to FPI to a very low amount, and all the board members came to the conclusion that there was no point in continuing,” this source said.