Trump's crypto business earned him over $2.2 billion in his first year in office
Washington, July 2, 2026
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Summary
The latest financial disclosure shows that US President Donald Trump earned at least $2.2 billion in the first year after his return to the White House — the largest share of it from crypto deals. Critics see a clear conflict of interest; the White House rejects the accusations.
Washington, July 2, 2026
The financial disclosure of US President Donald Trump, published on Tuesday, shows earnings of at least $2.2 billion in the first year after his return to the White House, a significant portion of which came from crypto deals.
Figures from the disclosure
The 927-page documents filed with the US Office of Government Ethics show that Donald Trump and his circle earned more than $1.4 billion through crypto deals in 2025. The amount corresponds to roughly 25 times the previous year's figure of about $57 million. A Trump Organization subsidiary alone generated $635 million through the sale of the Trump Coin, a so-called meme coin with the ticker "$TRUMP."
Meme coins are cryptocurrencies with no real economic utility. Their prices rise and fall with the hype surrounding the respective coin. They are usually based on internet phenomena, cartoon characters, or, as in the case of the $TRUMP coin, on a prominent name. They are collectible and speculative objects with no real value behind them.
What are meme coins?
The Trump Coin was launched just days before Trump's inauguration in January 2025. Trump promoted it on the platform X with the message: "Get your $Trump now." In time for the inauguration, Donald Trump launched a memecoin named after him. The coin reached a value of more than $74 immediately after launch but has since fallen to around $1.68.
First Lady Melania Trump took a similar step with the meme coin named after her, which at one point reached a market capitalization of eight billion dollars before losing 98 percent of its value. According to the disclosure, the coin generated six million dollars in revenue.
The role of World Liberty Financial
In addition to the meme coins, the crypto firm World Liberty Financial (WLF) plays a central role. The company, which Trump founded together with his sons and his adviser Steve Witkoff — with his son Zach Witkoff also having a stake — generated more than $500 million according to the documents. The sale of digital tokens and the disposal of stakes in WLF brought Trump's circle additional millions.
The stablecoin USD1 held by WLF, which mirrors the US dollar at a 1:1 ratio, is reportedly the world's fourth-largest stablecoin. Since trading began in September, the price of the World Liberty Token has fallen by 80 percent according to Reuters calculations. Despite the current crypto crisis, the value of the family's crypto holdings continues to amount to several hundred million dollars according to the documents.
The revelations raise questions about possible conflicts of interest. SRF business editor Isabel Pfaff put it this way: „Wenn eine Regierung hier recht klar Position bezieht und der Präsident gleichzeitig selbst eine Digitalwährung herausgibt, dann ist das ziemlich eindeutig ein Interessenskonflikt". Financial expert and former adviser to the US Securities and Exchange Commission Corey Frayer told Swiss television SRF in early June: „Trump sah in Krypto eine Möglichkeit, durch sein Amt Geld zu verdienen und Krypto für Korruption zu nutzen."
Critics see a conflict of interest
SRF stock market correspondent Jens Korte explained the mechanism: „Die Leute, die diese digitalen Münzen kaufen, teilweise auch mit dem Abbild von Donald Trump, da kommt letztendlich das Geld her. Dass diese Menschen damit Geld verdienen, das war eigentlich selten der Fall." Korte also pointed out that Trump has changed his strategy: instead of investing his own capital, he sells his name and the Trump brand while others make the actual real estate investments.
The Trump administration has significantly deregulated the crypto sector in recent months. Trump replaced the crypto-skeptical SEC chair Gary Gensler with Paul Atkins, who is considered very digital-friendly. Under Atkins, the SEC dropped cases against the trading platform Coinbase and other providers; in return, Coinbase donated to Trump's White House ballroom project.
Deregulation and political course-setting
Trump also signed the so-called Genius Act, which regulates stablecoins, and filled other key positions with crypto-friendly figures. He pardoned several crypto entrepreneurs who had been convicted of fraud or money laundering. Trump has set the goal of making the USA a "Bitcoin superpower." The US presidency is a lucrative business for Donald Trump.
The earnings from the crypto sector are only part of the total sum of $2.2 billion Trump reported in the first year after his return to the White House. Earnings in the first year after his return to the White House have tripled to at least $2.2 billion, compared with roughly $620 million he had reported in 2024 — the year before taking office.
Other sources of income
Other sources of income include earnings of more than $80 million from settlements with various media companies, as well as earnings in the millions from licensing his name to real estate developers abroad. Added to this are proceeds from his golf resorts and other properties: Trump National Golf Club Bedminster brought in around $37 million, the Doral Golf Resort in Miami around $122 million, and Mar-a-Lago increased its revenue from $50 to $77 million year over year.
Settlement payments from Meta ($24.5 million), ABC ($16 million), and CBS ($16 million) were deposited as donations to Trump's Presidential Library, according to the documents. An Amazon documentary about First Lady Melania Trump brought her $10.7 million. From the sale of his watches, which retail from $499, Trump earned $4.7 million.
Trump rejected the accusation of a conflict of interest on Wednesday (local time) before US media, citing rising stock prices. „Wir alle profitieren. Ich profitiere, weil ich eine Menge Geld und eine Menge Cash habe." A statement from the White House on the documents was not initially available. Later, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly declared: „Weder der Präsident noch seine Familie waren jemals in Interessenkonflikte verwickelt – und werden es auch niemals sein."
Reaction from the White House
Reuters had previously estimated that the Trump family has generated at least $2.3 billion in profit from investors since Trump's re-election. According to the documents, he now earns the bulk of his income from digital assets that have benefited from his policies. Reuters puts his crypto earnings since the return to the White House at more than two billion dollars in total. The disclosure provides new insights into the extent of the president's profits from his family's crypto activities.
At the end of April, Trump invited the 297 largest holders of the Trump Coin to a conference at one of his clubs, marketed as the "most exclusive crypto conference." In May, Trump himself spoke to crypto enthusiasts and called himself the "Crypto President." The observation that Trump's policies and his personal business are increasingly intermeshed has not so far triggered significant public outrage in the US. SRF correspondent Korte said on this: „Aber in der Öffentlichkeit habe ich doch eher das Gefühl, dass viele in den USA von der Politik insgesamt schlicht und einfach desillusioniert sind."
The disclosure was analyzed with the help of artificial intelligence to identify the sources of Trump's crypto earnings. The family's own crypto business is particularly lucrative. Donald Trump reported earnings of more than $1.4 billion from his family's crypto deals in the past year.
Based on everything that emerges from the documents, Trump's crypto income in the past year came mainly from licensing fees, token sales, and the disposal of corporate shares. The full disclosure was published on Tuesday and filed with the US Office of Government Ethics, before Trump addressed the media on Wednesday.
Questions & Answers
How much money did Donald Trump earn overall in his first year in office?
According to the financial disclosure filed with the US Office of Government Ethics, Trump's earnings amounted to at least $2.2 billion — three times the previous year's figure of around $620 million.
What role do meme coins play in Trump's earnings?
A Trump Organization subsidiary generated $635 million through the sale of the $TRUMP coin; in total, more than $1.4 billion comes from crypto deals.
Why do critics see a conflict of interest in Trump's crypto business?
Because the Trump administration has simultaneously deregulated the crypto sector and staffed key positions with crypto-friendly individuals, while the president and his family directly profit from digital assets.
