Even by Donald Trump’s well-established track record of making money off the presidency, he’s had a banner week.
On Monday, President Trump’s family earned some $5 billion — at least on paper — as their latest cryptocurrency venture launched. Now a “token” from World Liberty Financial, the crypto business co-founded last year by Trump and his sons, is trading publicly.
This launch highlights the extraordinary degree to which Trump and his family are using the Oval Office to personally profit, especially through his close ties to the crypto industry. The president reported income of more than $630 million last year, including $57 million from cryptocurrency sales, before launching a “meme coin” earlier this year. (He has also licensed his name to sell sneakers, watches, guitars, and Bibles.)
Now anyone can buy or sell this “$WLFI” token — giving those wishing to curry favor with the president another avenue to directly contribute to his personal finances.
“You used to have to join Mar-a-Lago[, Trump’s resort and private club]. This is much more fun. You don’t even have to get out of bed in the morning,” says Ross Delston, a lawyer and former banking regulator at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
“You can invest in this [cryptocurrency], and now he’s your friend,” he adds. “And that could be anybody — somebody who’s sketchy, or who’s been convicted of something, or acting on behalf of a [foreign] state actor. “
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren was even more blunt. “It’s corruption, plain and simple,” she wrote on X on Tuesday, linking to a Wall Street Journal story about the Trump family’s $5 billion on-paper windfall.
The White House has repeatedly dismissed such criticisms over Trump’s efforts to personally profit from the crypto industry.
“Neither the President nor his family have ever engaged, or will ever engage, in conflicts of interest,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told NPR in an emailed statement this week.
From calling crypto a “scam” to appointing pro-crypto financial cops
World Liberty’s public launch didn’t exactly set the crypto world on fire. Its tokens were priced at about 22 cents each by Wednesday afternoon, down from their high of 32 cents shortly after their debut.
And so far, the Trumps have limited ability to actually cash in their holdings: World Liberty Financial says that its “team,” including the Trumps, were barred from selling their own tokens when they started trading publicly.
But even without an immediate payday, the token’s debut creates more pathways for the Trump family to profit from the crypto industry that helped put him back in office.
Just a few years ago, Trump called crypto a scam. But now he’s embraced it. Last year he courted deep-pocketed crypto investors, by vowing to make the United States the crypto capital of the world. And once he won re-election, Trump started appointing crypto-friendly officials to his administration — including at the financial regulatory agencies that once heavily policed the crypto industry.
Under President Biden, the Securities and Exchange Commission in particular cracked down heavily on crypto companies, suing many for fraud and money laundering. That gave Trump an opportunity to court the vote of frustrated crypto investors, who poured money into the 2024 federal elections. Last year, Trump appointed Paul Atkins, a crypto supporter, to head the SEC.
At the same time, the crypto ventures that Trump and his family have started have put them in a position to profit from the more relaxed rules coming out of his administration.
Now there are few guardrails for how Trump is co-mingling his personal and presidential crypto interests. As Delston says: “What exists now is virtually nothing.”
Transcript:
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
President Trump’s family crypto business seemingly made a fortune this week.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The cryptocurrency World Liberty Financial, co-founded by the president and his sons, started trading publicly on Monday. The launch added some $5 billion to the family’s wealth, at least on paper.
INSKEEP: NPR financial correspondent Maria Aspan has been following this story. Maria, good morning.
MARIA ASPAN, BYLINE: Good morning.
INSKEEP: Stating the obvious, $5 billion sounds like a lot. But we said $5 billion on paper. How is this currency doing?
ASPAN: Indeed. President Trump and his family own a big stake in World Liberty Financial. But other than the theoretical boost to their wealth, the first few days of trading kind of fell flat. The new World Liberty Financial crypto tokens are currently trading at about 23 cents, which is down from the high of over 30 cents after their launch on Monday. The company has also said that Trump and his sons are barred from selling their own tokens for the time being. So there’s not an immediate payday for the Trumps. And even if they could sell, them selling would probably drive down the price even more. All of that said, this launch sure does create more pathways for them to profit from the crypto industry, which, of course, President Trump has embraced wholeheartedly.
INSKEEP: So they’ve created this currency with Trump’s name on it. The family holds a lot of the currency. So if people outside buy the other currency, that drives up the price and drives up their wealth. I get that. What does it matter that the president of the United States went into the crypto business while also promoting that very same business as president of the United States?
ASPAN: Well, as you point out, it underlines the extraordinary degree to which President Trump and his family are using the Oval Office to profit personally and how much the crypto industry is really at the center of that. I mean, you may recall, Steve, that just a few years ago, Trump called crypto a scam. Now he’s embraced it. He’s vowed to make the United States the crypto capital of the world. He’s loaded up his administration with crypto-friendly regulators, and he started crypto businesses, so he’s in a position to profit from these more relaxed rules coming out of his government. All of this is why many government ethics and financial experts have raised alarms about conflicts of interest. I spoke about this with Ross Delston, who’s a lawyer and a former banking regulator at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
ROSS DELSTON: Is this the kind of money that somebody wanting to influence the president, become friends with the president would want to invest in? Absolutely. It used to be you had to join Mar-a-Lago. This is much more fun. You don’t even have to get out of bed in the morning.
ASPAN: Delston also pointed out how upfront Trump is being about his business interests, despite all the concerns about conflicts of interest. The White House has repeatedly said there are no such conflicts of interest, which a spokesperson again told NPR last night.
INSKEEP: Got it. Are there any limits in place on what the president does?
ASPAN: As Delston told me, there is really no federal regulator who seems likely to call Trump out on any of this because he controls them. Under the Biden administration, deals like this would have drawn a lot of scrutiny from regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission. But now the president has appointed a lot of crypto-friendly people to his administration. And, Steve, it’s worth pointing out that it was that tougher approach at the SEC that gave Trump an opportunity to court the crypto vote and their money, and now he’s in the position to shape the rules, or the lack of rules, for a business where he and his family stand to profit.
INSKEEP: NPR’s Maria Aspan. Thanks for the reporting.
ASPAN: Thank you.
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