A New York state judge on Thursday ordered US President Donald Trump to pay $2 million for misusing his namesake charitable foundation, resulting in funds being used to advance his 2016 presidential campaign.

Justice Saliann Scarpulla, of the state Supreme Court in Manhattan, directed the payment to eight non-profits, in connection with a lawsuit by the state's attorney general against the president and three of his adult children over the now-dissolved Donald J. Trump Foundation.

President Trump defended the charity in a statement on Twitter, saying the foundation was an "incredibly effective philanthropy" that had made "some small technical violations."