Original source: USA Today
Original article by Josh Meyer
Original translation: Bitpush
U.S. President Donald Trump was asked on his second day in office whether he would continue to profit from his personal business activities after his Trump Memecoin ($TRUMP) soared to a market value of $20 billion.
I dont know much about it, except that I launched it. I heard it was very successful, Trump responded. I havent checked it out. Whats it worth now?
Youve made a lot of money, sir, the reporter pressed. It seems like billions of dollars in the last few days.
Billions? Thats chump change to these guys, Trump said, pointing to a group of tech billionaires at a White House event.
Trump has never made clear whether he will stop exploiting his presidency for personal gain — something historians note nearly all of America’s past presidents have pledged to avoid.
Huge profits raise questions
According to U.S. ethics watchdogs, Democratic lawmakers and cryptocurrency analysts, only two cryptocurrency investments held by Trump-related entities have earned at least $300 million in fees through digital token transactions such as memecoin since January. Analysts point out that greater potential profits come from Trump entities shares of memecoin and other Trump-themed cryptocurrency investments.
Last week, World Liberty Financial, another cryptocurrency project of the Trump family, announced that its digital tokens were used by an Abu Dhabi investment company to inject $2 billion into Binance. Democratic lawmakers and analysts said the deal was a conflict of interest and could bring at least $27 million in revenue to World Liberty Financial each year.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has eased regulations on the cryptocurrency industry and disbanded a Justice Department unit designed to combat crypto fraud.
Cryptocurrency isn’t Trump’s only source of funding since returning to the White House. Experts say the president has also profited from real estate, his Truth Social platform and a range of branded merchandise.
“It’s extremely difficult, if not impossible, to get a hard number right now,” said Fred Wertheimer of Democracy 21, a nonprofit accountability group. “I don’t think this is a fluke.”
“The president has bragged about his billions for years, but as president, it’s a different story,” Wertheimer said. “He’s not hiding all his business activities, but he’s certainly not reporting what’s going on.”
Senate launches investigation
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, told USA Today he is conducting an investigation into profits during Trumps presidency.
The cryptocurrency business — including a digital meme coin celebrating Trump’s evasion of a Dark SHA attempt in July 2024 — will be key to Blumenthal’s investigation. Trump, he said, “earns money from the transactions because they incur fees, and also from the inflated price of tokens caused by his promotion or inducing sales.”
Blumenthal, a former Connecticut attorney general, said: Whether its tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars, it needs to be investigated, but the brazenness of this behavior is shocking, ridiculous and a potential threat to national security.
Blumenthal said he was particularly concerned that the opaque nature of cryptocurrency trading made it nearly impossible to determine how much Trump had profited — and who might be seeking influence by buying Trump tokens.
He said it could pose a national security threat by allowing a foreign government to enrich Trump — and gain his favor — without the public knowing.
A White House spokesman denied this, saying the president has no conflict of interest because his assets are controlled by his children. A spokesperson for World Liberty Financial, a crypto company controlled by the Trump family, told USA Today that the company is “not politically affiliated.”
Sneakers, Bibles — and digital currencies
Compared with his first term, Trump has this time overturned the convention that restricts the commander-in-chief from using his power to profit from it.
In addition to Memecoin and other cryptocurrencies, Trump and his business partners have promoted dozens of branded merchandise, including Trump sneakers and a Trump-autographed Bible.
Trump has also gone all in on digital artworks, known as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), selling “Trump Bitcoin Digital Trading Cards,” including more than 100 new collectibles released in January 2025, according to Cryptopolitan and other crypto industry trackers.
An Intimate Private Dinner for Trump Investors
On April 23, one of the many private companies associated with Trump and his family upped the ante by offering “the world’s most exclusive invitation” to existing and new buyers of the $TRUMP memecoin.
According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a memecoin is a crypto asset inspired by an internet meme, character or trend, and the promoter attempts to attract a passionate online community to purchase the memecoin and participate in its trading.
“In this respect, memecoins are similar to collectibles,” the SEC said. “Memecoins often have limited or no functionality.”
The $TRUMP memecoin is advertised as “the only official Trump meme, produced by President Donald J. Trump.”
However, the “fine print” in its disclaimer reminds that the coin is “intended as an expression of support and engagement with the ideals and beliefs embodied by the $TRUMP symbol” and is “not intended to be, or to become, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any kind.”
The disclaimer states that CIC Digital LLC, an affiliate of the Trump Organization, and a company called Fight Fight Fight LLC jointly own 80% of the $TRUMP meme coin.
An announcement on the $TRUMP memecoins official website said the first 220 investors will win an intimate private dinner with the president on May 22 at Trumps Northern Virginia golf club.
The first 25 Trump Memecoin investors were promised an “ultra-VIP experience, including a private reception with the President and a guided tour of the White House.”
The $TRUMP memecoin surged as much as 80%, adding more than $100 million to its value, according to Finance Magnates and other crypto trackers.
Chainalysis spokesperson Jorah Huntington told USA Today that data showed that in the days after the dinner was announced alone, Trump and related entities made $1.3 million in transaction fees, bringing their cumulative revenue to more than $320 million.
This is one of the most blatant and egregious examples of selling presidential access that I have ever seen, said Donald Sherman, executive director and chief legal counsel for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).
The White House declined to comment: No conflict of interest
The White House and the Trump Organization did not respond to a series of questions seeking comment on Trump Memecoin and other investments.
Attorney William Burke, who was hired in January to enforce ethical standards at the Trump Organization but was fired recently following reports that he was also representing Harvard University in its legal conflicts with the Trump administration, also did not respond.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told USA Today: The presidents assets are held in a trust managed by his children. There is no conflict of interest.
Kelly was referring to the Trump Organizations January announcement that Trump would hand over day-to-day management of his multibillion-dollar real estate, hotel, golf, media and licensing businesses to his children once he enters the White House.
But Trumps current arrangement is more open to abuse than during his first term, when countries such as Saudi Arabia paid millions of dollars to his companies, according to interviews with USA Today and reports from congressional Democrats and watchdog groups.
Presidents have historically earned trust by pledging not to seek personal gain while in office, ensuring that policy decisions are made in the national interest — not personal gain.
“That’s no longer the case,” said Danielle Bryan, president of the Project on Government Oversight in Washington. “President Trump has made it clear that he’s going to make as much money as he can while he’s president because he’s president — and he’s made no secret of it.”
Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a former federal prosecutor, is one of several Democratic senators who have called on the Office of Government Ethics to investigate Trump’s crypto business, including whether a strategic bitcoin reserve he established in March improperly helped his own investments.
“Donald Trump is making tons of money, and the only losers are the American people,” Schiff said in a video posted on X.
For Trump, who calls himself the first “crypto president,” $TRUMP is just one part of his broader empire, which also includes a memecoin launched for first lady Melania Trump that was initially valued in the billions of dollars.
In another business, the Trump family quietly took control of World Liberty Financial in January, a crypto company that raised $550 million through the sale of its digital currency, $WLFI. Reuters reported in March that the Trump family received the vast majority of those funds with the help of terms that industry experts believe favor company insiders.
The Trump family is now entitled to 75% of World Liberty Financial’s net proceeds from token sales, 60% of operating income — and about $400 million in transaction fees, according to the company’s website and Reuters.
WLF responds: “It has nothing to do with politics”
David Waxman, a spokesman for World Liberty Financial, told USA Today he could not comment on how much money Trump and his family have made from the business.
He said allegations of conflicts of interest or corruption were extreme, top-level exaggerations, completely false and spurious. Waxman described World Liberty as an apolitical organization. We have absolutely nothing to do with politics.
Trump’s personal stake in the company, whose motto is “Inspired by Donald J. Trump,” is unclear.
In calling for an investigation, Schiff pointed to crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, who injected $75 million into World Liberty Financial.
Sun has faced a civil fraud case brought by U.S. securities regulators involving celebrities including Lindsay Lohan, Jake Paul and rapper Soulja Boy.
“You will not be surprised to learn that the fraud case against Justin Sun has now been shelved by the Trump administration,” Schiff said in his video. “The American people now have no way of knowing whether this administration is acting on behalf of the American people or on behalf of the financial interests of Donald Trump.”
Suns lawyer, William Sharon, did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment.
As of May 1, Justin Sun — with an estimated $14 million invested — topped the $TRUMP memecoin website’s investor leaderboard, qualifying for a private dinner with Trump.
In recent months, World Liberty has also branched out into other businesses.
On May 1, Zach Witkoff, one of the co-founders of World Liberty, announced that its “USD 1 stablecoin” was being used by an Abu Dhabi company as the “official stablecoin” for a $2 billion investment in Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange. (A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency whose value is anchored to another asset, such as the U.S. dollar.)
Witkoff, the son of Trumps top diplomatic envoy, close friend and billionaire developer Steve Witkoff, said they were excited about the new deal.
As of April 30, the total value of USD 1 tokens reached about $2.1 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data, making it one of the fastest-growing stablecoins in the world, Reuters reported, adding that “however, the identity of its major holders remains unclear.”
Witkov said World Liberty is now also doing business with Justin Sun, who attended a crypto conference in Dubai on May 1 with Witkov and Eric Trump.
Golf Properties and Saudi Arabia
Bryan, Wertheimer and others said it is impossible to know how much money Trump has earned from various sources because his White House financial disclosure form is not due to be filed with the Office of Government Ethics until mid-May.
During his first term, foreign governments spent millions of dollars at Trump’s hotels and golf courses, and Trump’s businesses earned as much as $160 million from foreign countries, according to CREW.
Rick Claypool of Public Citizen asked: But in that case, at least you got a hotel room. When you put $5 million into these Trump meme coins, what is the value of that other than putting money in the presidents pocket?
Trump sold his hotel in Washington. But he still profits from foreign spending at his golf properties. Saudi Arabia’s LIV golf tour has held seven events at Trump courses, despite pressure from Trump to merge the more established PGA Tour with LIV — a move that would benefit the Saudis.
The PGA Tour rejected LIVs latest multibillion-dollar offer in early April.
“But hopefully we’re going to merge the two tours,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “You have the PGA Tour and the LIV Tour. I think merging them would be a good thing.”
While Truth Social has reported losses, the value of Trump’s stake in the platform has risen dramatically during his presidency. On April 2, the company filed paperwork with securities regulators to allow Trump’s trust to sell about $2.3 billion in stock.
Paid President Circle is controversial
Last month, during the White House Correspondents Association dinner, Donald Trump Jr. co-hosted a launch party for his The Executive Branch private club, which costs more than $500,000 to join.
Politico cited people familiar with the project as saying that the goal is to cater to business and tech giants looking to cultivate relationships with the Trump administration.
On April 30, Senator Chris Murphy displayed a large chart in the Senate, condemning Trumps corruption during his first 100 days in office and saying that TRUMP coin is the biggest scandal in the history of the US presidency.
As the mid-May financial disclosure deadline approaches, the controversy over the presidents business interests will continue to ferment. The White House insists that all actions are legal, but watchdog groups emphasize that Trump has broken the historical tradition of presidents not making policies for personal gain.
Trump has made it clear that he wants to maximize his profits as a president, said Danielle Bryan, president of the Project on Government Oversight. And hes made no secret of it.
