Trump Family Wealth Mushrooms Through Using Presidency

NEWS & RESEARCH

Since his January 2025 inauguration, Donald Trump’s wealth has grown by 165%, around $1.4 billion through his family’s crypto businesses and by $2.2 billion overall. Much of Trump’s haul came when the United Arab Emirates bought nearly a 50% stake in the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial (WLF). Trump also raked in hundreds of millions through the sale of his $Trump memecoin and WLF’s sale of its own digital tokens and pressuring startups who wanted to be seen doing business with the Trumps to cough up millions more. (Nearly two-thirds of the $Trump memecoin purchasers have lost money.) This massive growth in fortune followed the administration’s crypto regulatory rollbacks, its suspension of investigations into WLF investors, and Trump’s pardon of Binance founder and crypto king, Changpeng Zhao, a Trump business partner.

SOURCE: New York Times | Mother Jones | New York Times | The Times | New York Times | Wall Street Journal

ANALYSIS & OPINION

Experts describe these deals as unprecedented in modern government corruption. The Free Press calls it “the biggest grift in American history.” The New York Times notes that “Mr. Trump is a major crypto industry operator and its top policymaker.” A Brennan Center report warns that WLF’s capital flow likely violates the Constitution’s Emoluments Clauses, creating a limitless channel for foreign governments to influence the President. But Trump dismissed the criticisms, asserting that everybody is profiting from his presidency.

SOURCES: The Guardian | Brennan Center | The Guardian | New York Times | The Free Press | Rolling Stone | Ticker

HOW TO FIX IT

To address these conflicts, advocates and lawmakers suggest:

• Legislation: Passing the the Modern Emoluments and Malfeasance Act, or MEME Act,  End Crypto Corruption Act, Stop TRUMP in Crypto Act, and the Presidential Conflicts of Interest Act and other conflict of interest reforms

• Structural Oversight: Mandating a blind trust for presidential investments and ensuring strict compliance with the Ethics in Government Act.

• Regulatory Scrutiny: Oversee SEC transparency in its crypto regulation and delay approvalof WLF’s bank charter application via the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

SOURCES: Public Citizen | Senator Merkley | The Guardian | NCRC | Yahoo Finance | New York Times | Democracy Defenders

Legislation:H.R.1712 - MEME Act | S.1668 - End Crypto Corruption Act | H.R.3573 - Stop TRUMP in Crypto Act | S.1486 - Presidential Conflicts of Interest Act