Conservative think tank closing because mission ‘no longer relevant’: report

The right-leaning Foreign Policy Initiative think tank will close down in the coming months, The Atlantic reported on Thursday.

The organization, which is primarily funded by billionaire GOP donor Paul Singer, will likely shut down in August, according to the report.

A Republican source told The Atlantic that Singer was questioning the group’s future before the election, and was unsure whether the group was necessary after President Trump’s win.

“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 The Atlantic’s source. 

“Like a lot of things, after the election of Trump, the question was: What are they going to do?”

{mosads}Another source told The Atlantic that the group’s mission was “no longer relevant.”

“The organization was set up to really accomplish two main things, which was basically to try to keep the Republican Party focused on Iraq and Afghanistan,” The Atlantic’s second source said. “That mission is no longer relevant.”

Singer initially opposed Trump in 2016, predicting the GOP candidate’s policies would cause “widespread global depression.” But in February, Singer visited the White House “to discuss policies to advance a pro-growth agenda and the President’s success on behalf of our country, ” CNBC reported.

Trump in a press conference thanked Singer for visiting him at the White House and called him a “strong ally.”

“I want to thank Paul Singer for being here and coming up to the office. He was a very strong opponent and now he’s a very strong ally and I appreciate that,” Trump said in February.