Trump accused of ‘disgusting’ greed after being paid over $2bn since return to office
Donald Trump has again been accused of “brazen crypto corruption” after financial disclosures revealed his family’s cryptocurrency ventures generated more than $1bn in his first year back in the White House.
A 927-page disclosure, released on Tuesday by the US Office of Government Ethics, showed that the US president had been paid more than $2.2bn last year in total, from real estate, golf resorts, branded merchandise, licensing deals and court settlements.
But a set of extraordinary crypto takings stood out: World Liberty Financial, a joint venture between the Trump family and that of Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, brought in more than $500m from sales of “governance tokens”, while another firm, CIC Digital LLC, generated more than $600m from Trump-branded meme coins, launched days before his second inauguration.
Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate banking committee, said the figures showed why the US Congress needed to act.
“The crypto legislation heading to the Senate floor must prevent the president, vice-president, senior administration officials, members of Congress, and their families from profiting off the crypto industry,” said Warren. “If it does not, it will only turbocharge Donald Trump’s brazen crypto corruption.”
Juliana Stratton, the Illinois lieutenant governor and a Democratic Senate candidate, wrote on social media that Trump’s “infinite greed is disgusting”, adding: “Donald Trump uses the office of the president to make billions while American families struggle to afford their basic needs.”
Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, said the disclosures “showed exactly” how Trump played his crypto cards, noting that many investors had lost out. “He got richer,” said Newsom. “His crypto supporters got rug-pulled.”
“The most corrupt president in American history,” said Minnesota governor Tim Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice-presidential nominee whom the Trump administration has targeted aggressively with fraud investigations into the state’s social programs.
Asked about the disclosures on Wednesday, Trump waved off the scrutiny. “I made a lot of money before I became president,” he told reporters. The White House has long maintained Trump’s businesses are walled off from his official duties and run by his adult sons. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In his second term, the president and his family have invested heavily in digital money and crypto businesses, with Trump announcing at the start of last year that he wanted the US to be the “crypto capital of the world”.
Trump also made millions last year from selling Trump-branded Bibles, trainers and other small items, in another unprecedented move for the presidency. In the Trump-branded watches category alone, the president received $4.7m.
The rise of crypto relative to Trump’s property is especially noteworthy given the president racked up tens of millions from fees and licensing deals in a flurry of new hotel, resort and condo deals overseas. Many of those countries were negotiating with the US over tariffs, military aid and other important matters.
A property in the United Arab Emirates took in $10.4m; one in Saudi Arabia being built by a real estate developer close to the ruling family sent the president’s company $9m; and one in Bucharest, Romania, and another in Qatar each sent Trump $5m.
The disclosure report also detailed payments of more than $86m to the president from five separate legal settlements with media and social media companies including ABC, CBS, YouTube, Meta and X.
The latest disclosures add to a string of controversies over the Trump family’s crypto dealings. In June, the Ultimate Fighting Championship said it would pay fighter bonuses in USD1, a stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial, at a mixed martial arts event staged on the White House’s South Lawn for the president’s birthday. (World Liberty was an official sponsor of the event.)
Congressional Democrats want a fuller reckoning. Warren’s staff reported last week that officials linked to the United Arab Emirates invested roughly $500m in World Liberty Financial, after which the administration took at least 10 actions benefiting the UAE, including on AI chip exports – an arrangement Warren has called a potential “pay-to-play” scheme.
She and four other senators wrote to Senate committees on 23 June demanding hearings into the deal, under which associates of an Abu Dhabi royal bought a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for roughly half a billion dollars four days before Trump’s inauguration. Separately, Adam Schiff, a US senator, is leading an inquiry into the crypto exchange Binance over reports it evaded US sanctions on Iran, citing Binance’s ties to World Liberty Financial.
Not every effort to curb the US president’s crypto dealings has succeeded. An amendment barring the president, vice-president and Congress members and their families from owning or promoting crypto businesses was voted down by the US Senate banking committee along party lines, even as the underlying Clarity Act advanced.
The scrutiny landed just before Trump took his first flight onboard the new Air Force One, a Boeing 747 gifted to the US by Qatar, en route to North Dakota for the dedication of the Theodore Roosevelt presidential library, which he called the “best plane ever built”.
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗
Financial disclosures released by the US Office of Government Ethics in 2024 show Donald Trump received $2.2bn in total income during his first year back in office. His earnings came from real estate, golf resorts, merchandise, licensing deals, settlements and cryptocurrency ventures. Two crypto entities were significant: World Liberty Financial, a joint venture with Trump's Middle East envoy's family, generated over $500m from governance token sales, while CIC Digital LLC produced over $600m from Trump-branded meme coins launched near his inauguration. Trump also earned millions from branded merchandise including watches, Bibles and apparel, and received $86m from legal settlements with media companies. International property deals contributed substantially, with properties in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Romania and Qatar each generating millions. Democratic senators, including Elizabeth Warren, have raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest—particularly regarding a $500m UAE investment in World Liberty Financial made shortly before the inauguration, and subsequent administration actions benefiting the UAE. Congressional efforts to restrict crypto ownership by the president and Congress members were voted down along party lines. Trump has stated he made significant money before becoming president, and the White House maintains that his businesses are managed by his adult sons.
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗
Donald Trump has again been accused of “brazen crypto corruption” after financial disclosures revealed his family’s cryptocurrency ventures generated more than $1bn in his first year back in the White House.
A 927-page disclosure, released on Tuesday by the US Office of Government Ethics, showed that the US president had been paid more than $2.2bn last year in total, from real estate, golf resorts, branded merchandise, licensing deals and court settlements.
But a set of extraordinary crypto takings stood out: World Liberty Financial, a joint venture between the Trump family and that of Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, brought in more than $500m from sales of “governance tokens”, while another firm, CIC Digital LLC, generated more than $600m from Trump-branded meme coins, launched days before his second inauguration.
Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate banking committee, said the figures showed why the US Congress needed to act.
“The crypto legislation heading to the Senate floor must prevent the president, vice-president, senior administration officials, members of Congress, and their families from profiting off the crypto industry,” said Warren. “If it does not, it will only turbocharge Donald Trump’s brazen crypto corruption.”
Juliana Stratton, the Illinois lieutenant governor and a Democratic Senate candidate, wrote on social media that Trump’s “infinite greed is disgusting”, adding: “Donald Trump uses the office of the president to make billions while American families struggle to afford their basic needs.”
Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, said the disclosures “showed exactly” how Trump played his crypto cards, noting that many investors had lost out. “He got richer,” said Newsom. “His crypto supporters got rug-pulled.”
“The most corrupt president in American history,” said Minnesota governor Tim Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice-presidential nominee whom the Trump administration has targeted aggressively with fraud investigations into the state’s social programs.
Asked about the disclosures on Wednesday, Trump waved off the scrutiny. “I made a lot of money before I became president,” he told reporters. The White House has long maintained Trump’s businesses are walled off from his official duties and run by his adult sons. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In his second term, the president and his family have invested heavily in digital money and crypto businesses, with Trump announcing at the start of last year that he wanted the US to be the “crypto capital of the world”.
Trump also made millions last year from selling Trump-branded Bibles, trainers and other small items, in another unprecedented move for the presidency. In the Trump-branded watches category alone, the president received $4.7m.
The rise of crypto relative to Trump’s property is especially noteworthy given the president racked up tens of millions from fees and licensing deals in a flurry of new hotel, resort and condo deals overseas. Many of those countries were negotiating with the US over tariffs, military aid and other important matters.
A property in the United Arab Emirates took in $10.4m; one in Saudi Arabia being built by a real estate developer close to the ruling family sent the president’s company $9m; and one in Bucharest, Romania, and another in Qatar each sent Trump $5m.
The disclosure report also detailed payments of more than $86m to the president from five separate legal settlements with media and social media companies including ABC, CBS, YouTube, Meta and X.
The latest disclosures add to a string of controversies over the Trump family’s crypto dealings. In June, the Ultimate Fighting Championship said it would pay fighter bonuses in USD1, a stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial, at a mixed martial arts event staged on the White House’s South Lawn for the president’s birthday. (World Liberty was an official sponsor of the event.)
Congressional Democrats want a fuller reckoning. Warren’s staff reported last week that officials linked to the United Arab Emirates invested roughly $500m in World Liberty Financial, after which the administration took at least 10 actions benefiting the UAE, including on AI chip exports – an arrangement Warren has called a potential “pay-to-play” scheme.
She and four other senators wrote to Senate committees on 23 June demanding hearings into the deal, under which associates of an Abu Dhabi royal bought a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for roughly half a billion dollars four days before Trump’s inauguration. Separately, Adam Schiff, a US senator, is leading an inquiry into the crypto exchange Binance over reports it evaded US sanctions on Iran, citing Binance’s ties to World Liberty Financial.
Not every effort to curb the US president’s crypto dealings has succeeded. An amendment barring the president, vice-president and Congress members and their families from owning or promoting crypto businesses was voted down by the US Senate banking committee along party lines, even as the underlying Clarity Act advanced.
The scrutiny landed just before Trump took his first flight onboard the new Air Force One, a Boeing 747 gifted to the US by Qatar, en route to North Dakota for the dedication of the Theodore Roosevelt presidential library, which he called the “best plane ever built”.
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗
A 927-page disclosure released by the US Office of Government Ethics showed Trump received $2.2bn in total income in 2024 from real estate, golf resorts, merchandise, licensing, settlements and crypto ventures. World Liberty Financial, a joint venture between the Trump family and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff's family, generated over $500m from governance token sales. CIC Digital LLC generated over $600m from Trump-branded meme coins launched days before Trump's second inauguration. Trump earned $4.7m specifically from Trump-branded watches and millions from Bibles, trainers and other merchandise. Trump received $86m from legal settlements with ABC, CBS, YouTube, Meta and X. International properties in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Romania and Qatar generated $10.4m, $9m, $5m and $5m respectively. Warren's staff reported that officials linked to the UAE invested roughly $500m in World Liberty Financial approximately four days before Trump's inauguration, and the administration subsequently took at least 10 actions benefiting the UAE. Trump is showing 'disgusting infinite greed' and 'brazen crypto corruption'. Trump uses the office of the president to make billions while American families struggle. Trump's crypto supporters were 'rug-pulled' after he became richer from crypto ventures. Trump is 'the most corrupt president in American history'. The UAE investment in World Liberty Financial followed by administration actions benefiting the UAE represents a potential 'pay-to-play' scheme. Trump stated he made substantial money before becoming president and dismissed the scrutiny.
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗
- Trump's 2024 financial disclosures show $2.2bn in total income, including over $1bn from family cryptocurrency ventures
- World Liberty Financial generated $500m+ from governance token sales; CIC Digital LLC generated $600m+ from Trump-branded meme coins
- Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest, particularly regarding UAE investments in World Liberty Financial and subsequent administration actions
- Trump dismissed scrutiny, stating he made substantial money before becoming president; the White House maintains businesses are managed by his adult sons