![\"\"](\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!SABI!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffcae918a-e978-47ee-bea2-b96dcb94ac6f_620x413.avif\")
<\/picture>Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One for departure on 7 August at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. Photograph: Eric Lee\/Getty Images<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nBy Peter Stone in Washington, The Guardian<\/p>\n
Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s use of his second presidency to grow his personal fortune has alarmed legal and ethics experts and congressional Democrats\u00a0as he has reaped\u00a0<\/a>an \u201cunprecedented\u201d $2.2bn in 2025 revenues by amassing big cryptocurrency holdings, benefiting from wealthy foreign interests, expanding his Truth Social business and more, while federal oversight of his actions has waned.<\/p>\nTrump last year raked in at least $1.4bn from his crypto ventures according to financial disclosure forms he filed in June. Simultaneously, about one million investors in a Trump crypto scheme suffered almost $3.8bn\u00a0in losses\u00a0<\/a>as their volatile crypto holdings tanked in value.<\/p>\nMonetizing his presidency further this summer, Trump\u2019s Truth Social media business\u00a0<\/strong>is pushing a new scheme that offers wealthy buyers special early access to his posts for a fee of $100,000 a month, which top Democrats and public interest groups say pose serious conflict of interest and corruption issues.<\/p>\nMark Warner, the Democratic senator of Virginia, in July\u00a0wrote to six major<\/a>\u00a0Wall Street financial trade groups urging them to reject a new Truth Social product, dubbed Truth API, that would enrich Trump by giving big investors early looks at Trump\u2019s postings. Warner\u2019s letter urged that they \u201cnot legitimize an arrangement that sells privileged access to market-moving presidential communications, especially for the president\u2019s personal financial benefit\u201d.<\/p>\nOn another monetization front, critics raised red flags about how Trump tapped his justice department to forge a potentially lucrative and sketchy deal to settle a $10bn lawsuit by Trump against the IRS about a leak of his tax returns that gives him and his family immunity from IRS audits of prior tax returns and could save him $100m.<\/p>\n
Likewise some analysts are troubled by how Trump has circumvented the constitution\u2019s prohibition on foreign emoluments by accepting a $400m plane as a gift from Qatar, and how other wealthy foreigners have backed some Trump family hotel and golf deals abroad.<\/p>\n
Beyond his personal enrichment, Trump\u2019s monetizing his office and transactional governing style has proved lucrative to his sons, some top advisers, billionaire buddies, big donors and other allies, say critics.<\/p>\n
A\u00a0CNN poll in late July buttressed criticism of Trump\u2019s monetizing his second term: the poll revealed<\/a>\u00a0that 66% of 1,225 respondents said Trump doesn\u2019t put the good of the country over his personal gain and only 34% said he does.<\/p>\nFormer federal officials, historians and other experts have raised \u201ccorruption\u201d concerns and other red flags as Trump has monetized his presidency for personal gain in ways that far exceed any other president\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrump has figured out a way to monetize the presidency, political power and public policy in ways no other president has achieved,\u201d Princeton historian Julian Zelizer told the Guardian. \u201cIn the first term, he created the thinnest of firewalls between his business and policy. In the second term, he didn\u2019t put up any firewall and smashed all guardrails that existed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe precedent is dangerous in general, as we are moving to a virtually unregulated era where there will be unending opportunities for corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former election officials concur that Trump is cashing in on his presidency to an unprecedented level.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrump has openly rejected restraints on presidential conflicts of interests and is using the powers of the presidency, both real and imagined, to financially benefit his and his family\u2019s business interests on an unprecedented level,\u201d said Larry Noble, a former general counsel at the Federal Election Commission who now teaches law at American University. \u201cIn just the first year of this term, he reported his business holdings earned over $2bn.\u201d<\/p>\n
Noble added: \u201cWhile Trump\u2019s second term is less than half over, it already looks like the most openly corrupt administration in our history.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether you\u2019re a foreign country, a company or an individual who wants the government to approve a business deal, stop an investigation or just be a friend when you need a favor, the message is that this is a pay to play administration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other legal experts offer equally strong critiques.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the biggest concern is not simply that the president is making money from his office, but the potential for corruption,\u201d said Barbara McQuade, a former federal prosecutor\u00a0<\/strong>for eastern Michigan who now teaches at the University of Michigan law school.<\/p>\n\u201cTrump\u2019s settlement of his lawsuit against the IRS typifies his self-dealing. The judge assigned to the case later found that because Trump controlled both sides of the case, there was no adversity of parties to provide the court with jurisdiction. Instead, Trump used the court to legitimize what was essentially a gift to him at taxpayer expense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since his second term began, Trump has dismissed concerns about conflicts of interests, boasting to the New York Times in January that he has a \u201cvery honest family<\/a>\u201d and that he had never taken his presidential salary.<\/p>\nUnlike prior presidents, though, Trump has declined to put his assets in a completely blind trust or divest from his businesses, although ethics experts have urged him to do so.<\/p>\n
Despite Trump\u2019s protestations, Trump\u2019s crypto earnings in 2025 are eye-popping \u2013especially in contrast to the dismal returns for many investors and given Trump\u2019s warnings in 2021 that crypto was a \u201cscam\u201d, and a \u201cdisaster waiting to happen\u201d. Trump\u2019s strong embrace of crypto came after the industry poured millions of dollars into his 2024 campaign, and he\u00a0pledged to make the US<\/a>\u00a0\u201cthe crypto capital of the world\u201d with less regulation.<\/p>\nFor instance, the crypto venture World Liberty Financial, which Trump and his sons launched in the fall of 2024 with the family of Steve Witkoff, who now is Trump\u2019s special Middle East envoy, brought in $799m in 2025 for Trump,\u00a0according to public filings<\/a>.<\/p>\nLast year too,\u00a0Trump earned<\/a>\u00a0another $636m from his novelty memecoin $Trump which Trump began marketing just days before his inauguration in 2025.<\/p>\nThe Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Adam Schiff of California this year wrote a tough letter to the Trump-allied memecoin marketing firm Fight Fight Fight as Trump was poised to host an April event for buyers of $Trump at Mar-a-Lago similar to one Trump hosted at his Virginia golf club last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have previously raised concerns with President Trump\u2019s willingness to use the presidency for personal profit,\u201d the lawmakers noted in their letter to the marketing firm for $Trump.<\/p>\n
The letter stressed that \u201cnot all $TRUMP holders have benefited from their investment\u201d, and cited a February industry report that $TRUMP \u2013 and the first lady\u2019s memecoin, $MELANIA \u2013 \u201cerased an estimated $4.3 billion in retail wealth in recent months, with 2 million holders currently underwater\u201d. In stark contrast, the same\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0found that 45 other crypto wallets that were early holders of $Trump coins had profited by about $1.2bn.<\/p>\nAfter Trump\u2019s\u00a0memecoin bash<\/a>\u00a0in 2025 prompted conflict of interest questions and charges of corruption , the press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said Trump was \u201cabiding by all conflict-of-interest laws that are applicable to the president\u201d.<\/p>\nBut legal critics and experts say Trump\u2019s monetization of his presidency has given short shrift to conflict of interest concerns, as his regulators have eased oversight and Trump has used his office to reward an array of wealthy allies in crypto and other fields.<\/p>\n
The Cornell economist Eswar Prasad faults the Trump administration\u2019s regulatory laxness for some of the scandals and legal headaches that have plagued the crypto industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Trump administration has clearly shifted the priorities and focus of the government\u2019s regulatory apparatus to look past any and all sins of the crypto industry, thereby directly benefiting the Trump family\u2019s financial interests,\u201d Prasad said.<\/p>\n
A case in point, say critics, has been the weak oversight of Binance, the world\u2019s biggest crypto exchange that has benefited Trump\u2019s World Liberty Financial.<\/p>\n
WLF was tapped to play a central role in a $2bn investment by the Abu Dhabi financial fund MGX that is backed by the\u00a0United Arab Emirates<\/a>\u00a0in Binance. As part of the deal, the Abu Dhabi fund bought $2bn of a WLF stablecoin, dubbed USD1, to invest in\u00a0Binance<\/a>. Stablecoins are a popular type of cryptocurrency that are often pegged to the dollar.<\/p>\nThe WLF deal came after Binance in 2023 pleaded guilty to violating US money-laundering laws and other violations and the justice department fined it a whopping $4.3bn.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Binance\u2019s ex-CEO and founder, Changpeng Zhao, pleaded guilty in the US to violating the Bank Secrecy Act and failing to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program.<\/p>\n
Zhao, who still owns 90% of Binance, served a four-month jail term in 2024 and last year\u00a0received a pardon<\/a>\u00a0from Trump. Despite Binance pledges to crack down on crime, internal investigators\u00a0last year found<\/a>\u00a0that about $1.7bn in crypto reportedly moved through Binance to Iranian entities linked to terrorism.<\/p>\nSimilarly, watchdog groups are sharply critical of Truth Social\u2019s offer to sell Wall Street advance looks at Trump\u2019s Truth Social posts for $100,000 per month.<\/p>\n
\u201cUsing the presidency to channel non-public information to his media company\u2019s major institutional customers for profit is not simply Trump\u2019s newest act in self-dealing,\u201d said Virginia Canter, the chief counsel for ethics and anti-corruption with Democracy Defenders Action.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a significant escalation in exploiting and monetizing the presidency for his personal private gain. Providing Trump Media high-speed access to official non-public information is a step towards normalizing insider trading and public corruption, disregarding the damage it may cause to regular investors who will not have the same access as his wealthy institutional customers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Canter added that \u201cTrump is increasingly dependent on the presidency to generate business profits since his media company has been losing money over the past several quarters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump Media & Technology, the company behind the Truth Social platform, on 10 August\u00a0announced it lost\u00a0<\/a>a whopping $238m in the three months through June as it branched out into new businesses including crypto.<\/p>\nTop Democrats echo these critiques.<\/p>\n
In a July\u00a0letter<\/a>\u00a0to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Senators Schiff and Warren called the new Truth Social deal \u201can outrageous abuse of the President\u2019s office for his personal benefit that undermines everyday investors and the integrity of our markets, while enriching Wall Street and other wealthy insiders\u201d.<\/p>\nLooking forward, McQuade urged \u201cnew rules and new consequences to protect the public from a president willing to put his own financial benefit ahead of the public interest\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2026 we have a small favour to ask.<\/strong>\u00a0Tens of millions have placed their trust in the Guardian\u2019s fearless journalism since we started publishing more than 200 years ago, turning to us in moments of crisis, uncertainty, solidarity and hope. More than 1.5 million supporters, from 180 countries, now power us financially \u2013 keeping us open to all, and fiercely independent.\u00a0Will you make a difference and support us too?<\/a><\/p>\nUnlike many others, the Guardian has no shareholders and no billionaire owner. Just the determination and passion to deliver high-impact global reporting, always free from commercial or political influence. Reporting like this is vital for democracy, for fairness and to demand better from the powerful.<\/p>\n
And we provide all this for free, for everyone to read. We do this because we believe in information equality. Greater numbers of people can keep track of the global events shaping our world, understand their impact on people and communities, and become inspired to take meaningful action. Millions can benefit from open access to quality, truthful news, regardless of their ability to pay for it.<\/p>\n
Whether you give a little or a lot, the support of readers like you from Venezuela will power our reporting for the years to come.<\/p>\n
<\/picture>Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One for departure on 7 August at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. Photograph: Eric Lee\/Getty Images<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!SABI!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffcae918a-e978-47ee-bea2-b96dcb94ac6f_620x413.avif)
<\/picture>By Peter Stone in Washington, The Guardian<\/p>\n
Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s use of his second presidency to grow his personal fortune has alarmed legal and ethics experts and congressional Democrats\u00a0as he has reaped\u00a0<\/a>an \u201cunprecedented\u201d $2.2bn in 2025 revenues by amassing big cryptocurrency holdings, benefiting from wealthy foreign interests, expanding his Truth Social business and more, while federal oversight of his actions has waned.<\/p>\n Trump last year raked in at least $1.4bn from his crypto ventures according to financial disclosure forms he filed in June. Simultaneously, about one million investors in a Trump crypto scheme suffered almost $3.8bn\u00a0in losses\u00a0<\/a>as their volatile crypto holdings tanked in value.<\/p>\n Monetizing his presidency further this summer, Trump\u2019s Truth Social media business\u00a0<\/strong>is pushing a new scheme that offers wealthy buyers special early access to his posts for a fee of $100,000 a month, which top Democrats and public interest groups say pose serious conflict of interest and corruption issues.<\/p>\n Mark Warner, the Democratic senator of Virginia, in July\u00a0wrote to six major<\/a>\u00a0Wall Street financial trade groups urging them to reject a new Truth Social product, dubbed Truth API, that would enrich Trump by giving big investors early looks at Trump\u2019s postings. Warner\u2019s letter urged that they \u201cnot legitimize an arrangement that sells privileged access to market-moving presidential communications, especially for the president\u2019s personal financial benefit\u201d.<\/p>\n On another monetization front, critics raised red flags about how Trump tapped his justice department to forge a potentially lucrative and sketchy deal to settle a $10bn lawsuit by Trump against the IRS about a leak of his tax returns that gives him and his family immunity from IRS audits of prior tax returns and could save him $100m.<\/p>\n Likewise some analysts are troubled by how Trump has circumvented the constitution\u2019s prohibition on foreign emoluments by accepting a $400m plane as a gift from Qatar, and how other wealthy foreigners have backed some Trump family hotel and golf deals abroad.<\/p>\n Beyond his personal enrichment, Trump\u2019s monetizing his office and transactional governing style has proved lucrative to his sons, some top advisers, billionaire buddies, big donors and other allies, say critics.<\/p>\n A\u00a0CNN poll in late July buttressed criticism of Trump\u2019s monetizing his second term: the poll revealed<\/a>\u00a0that 66% of 1,225 respondents said Trump doesn\u2019t put the good of the country over his personal gain and only 34% said he does.<\/p>\n Former federal officials, historians and other experts have raised \u201ccorruption\u201d concerns and other red flags as Trump has monetized his presidency for personal gain in ways that far exceed any other president\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n \u201cTrump has figured out a way to monetize the presidency, political power and public policy in ways no other president has achieved,\u201d Princeton historian Julian Zelizer told the Guardian. \u201cIn the first term, he created the thinnest of firewalls between his business and policy. In the second term, he didn\u2019t put up any firewall and smashed all guardrails that existed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe precedent is dangerous in general, as we are moving to a virtually unregulated era where there will be unending opportunities for corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n Former election officials concur that Trump is cashing in on his presidency to an unprecedented level.<\/p>\n \u201cTrump has openly rejected restraints on presidential conflicts of interests and is using the powers of the presidency, both real and imagined, to financially benefit his and his family\u2019s business interests on an unprecedented level,\u201d said Larry Noble, a former general counsel at the Federal Election Commission who now teaches law at American University. \u201cIn just the first year of this term, he reported his business holdings earned over $2bn.\u201d<\/p>\n Noble added: \u201cWhile Trump\u2019s second term is less than half over, it already looks like the most openly corrupt administration in our history.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether you\u2019re a foreign country, a company or an individual who wants the government to approve a business deal, stop an investigation or just be a friend when you need a favor, the message is that this is a pay to play administration.\u201d<\/p>\n Other legal experts offer equally strong critiques.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the biggest concern is not simply that the president is making money from his office, but the potential for corruption,\u201d said Barbara McQuade, a former federal prosecutor\u00a0<\/strong>for eastern Michigan who now teaches at the University of Michigan law school.<\/p>\n \u201cTrump\u2019s settlement of his lawsuit against the IRS typifies his self-dealing. The judge assigned to the case later found that because Trump controlled both sides of the case, there was no adversity of parties to provide the court with jurisdiction. Instead, Trump used the court to legitimize what was essentially a gift to him at taxpayer expense.\u201d<\/p>\n Since his second term began, Trump has dismissed concerns about conflicts of interests, boasting to the New York Times in January that he has a \u201cvery honest family<\/a>\u201d and that he had never taken his presidential salary.<\/p>\n Unlike prior presidents, though, Trump has declined to put his assets in a completely blind trust or divest from his businesses, although ethics experts have urged him to do so.<\/p>\n Despite Trump\u2019s protestations, Trump\u2019s crypto earnings in 2025 are eye-popping \u2013especially in contrast to the dismal returns for many investors and given Trump\u2019s warnings in 2021 that crypto was a \u201cscam\u201d, and a \u201cdisaster waiting to happen\u201d. Trump\u2019s strong embrace of crypto came after the industry poured millions of dollars into his 2024 campaign, and he\u00a0pledged to make the US<\/a>\u00a0\u201cthe crypto capital of the world\u201d with less regulation.<\/p>\n For instance, the crypto venture World Liberty Financial, which Trump and his sons launched in the fall of 2024 with the family of Steve Witkoff, who now is Trump\u2019s special Middle East envoy, brought in $799m in 2025 for Trump,\u00a0according to public filings<\/a>.<\/p>\n Last year too,\u00a0Trump earned<\/a>\u00a0another $636m from his novelty memecoin $Trump which Trump began marketing just days before his inauguration in 2025.<\/p>\n The Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Adam Schiff of California this year wrote a tough letter to the Trump-allied memecoin marketing firm Fight Fight Fight as Trump was poised to host an April event for buyers of $Trump at Mar-a-Lago similar to one Trump hosted at his Virginia golf club last year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have previously raised concerns with President Trump\u2019s willingness to use the presidency for personal profit,\u201d the lawmakers noted in their letter to the marketing firm for $Trump.<\/p>\n The letter stressed that \u201cnot all $TRUMP holders have benefited from their investment\u201d, and cited a February industry report that $TRUMP \u2013 and the first lady\u2019s memecoin, $MELANIA \u2013 \u201cerased an estimated $4.3 billion in retail wealth in recent months, with 2 million holders currently underwater\u201d. In stark contrast, the same\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0found that 45 other crypto wallets that were early holders of $Trump coins had profited by about $1.2bn.<\/p>\n After Trump\u2019s\u00a0memecoin bash<\/a>\u00a0in 2025 prompted conflict of interest questions and charges of corruption , the press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said Trump was \u201cabiding by all conflict-of-interest laws that are applicable to the president\u201d.<\/p>\n But legal critics and experts say Trump\u2019s monetization of his presidency has given short shrift to conflict of interest concerns, as his regulators have eased oversight and Trump has used his office to reward an array of wealthy allies in crypto and other fields.<\/p>\n The Cornell economist Eswar Prasad faults the Trump administration\u2019s regulatory laxness for some of the scandals and legal headaches that have plagued the crypto industry.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Trump administration has clearly shifted the priorities and focus of the government\u2019s regulatory apparatus to look past any and all sins of the crypto industry, thereby directly benefiting the Trump family\u2019s financial interests,\u201d Prasad said.<\/p>\n A case in point, say critics, has been the weak oversight of Binance, the world\u2019s biggest crypto exchange that has benefited Trump\u2019s World Liberty Financial.<\/p>\n WLF was tapped to play a central role in a $2bn investment by the Abu Dhabi financial fund MGX that is backed by the\u00a0United Arab Emirates<\/a>\u00a0in Binance. As part of the deal, the Abu Dhabi fund bought $2bn of a WLF stablecoin, dubbed USD1, to invest in\u00a0Binance<\/a>. Stablecoins are a popular type of cryptocurrency that are often pegged to the dollar.<\/p>\n The WLF deal came after Binance in 2023 pleaded guilty to violating US money-laundering laws and other violations and the justice department fined it a whopping $4.3bn.<\/p>\n Furthermore, Binance\u2019s ex-CEO and founder, Changpeng Zhao, pleaded guilty in the US to violating the Bank Secrecy Act and failing to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program.<\/p>\n Zhao, who still owns 90% of Binance, served a four-month jail term in 2024 and last year\u00a0received a pardon<\/a>\u00a0from Trump. Despite Binance pledges to crack down on crime, internal investigators\u00a0last year found<\/a>\u00a0that about $1.7bn in crypto reportedly moved through Binance to Iranian entities linked to terrorism.<\/p>\n Similarly, watchdog groups are sharply critical of Truth Social\u2019s offer to sell Wall Street advance looks at Trump\u2019s Truth Social posts for $100,000 per month.<\/p>\n \u201cUsing the presidency to channel non-public information to his media company\u2019s major institutional customers for profit is not simply Trump\u2019s newest act in self-dealing,\u201d said Virginia Canter, the chief counsel for ethics and anti-corruption with Democracy Defenders Action.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a significant escalation in exploiting and monetizing the presidency for his personal private gain. Providing Trump Media high-speed access to official non-public information is a step towards normalizing insider trading and public corruption, disregarding the damage it may cause to regular investors who will not have the same access as his wealthy institutional customers.\u201d<\/p>\n Canter added that \u201cTrump is increasingly dependent on the presidency to generate business profits since his media company has been losing money over the past several quarters.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump Media & Technology, the company behind the Truth Social platform, on 10 August\u00a0announced it lost\u00a0<\/a>a whopping $238m in the three months through June as it branched out into new businesses including crypto.<\/p>\n Top Democrats echo these critiques.<\/p>\n In a July\u00a0letter<\/a>\u00a0to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Senators Schiff and Warren called the new Truth Social deal \u201can outrageous abuse of the President\u2019s office for his personal benefit that undermines everyday investors and the integrity of our markets, while enriching Wall Street and other wealthy insiders\u201d.<\/p>\n Looking forward, McQuade urged \u201cnew rules and new consequences to protect the public from a president willing to put his own financial benefit ahead of the public interest\u201d.<\/p>\n \u2026 we have a small favour to ask.<\/strong>\u00a0Tens of millions have placed their trust in the Guardian\u2019s fearless journalism since we started publishing more than 200 years ago, turning to us in moments of crisis, uncertainty, solidarity and hope. More than 1.5 million supporters, from 180 countries, now power us financially \u2013 keeping us open to all, and fiercely independent.\u00a0Will you make a difference and support us too?<\/a><\/p>\n Unlike many others, the Guardian has no shareholders and no billionaire owner. Just the determination and passion to deliver high-impact global reporting, always free from commercial or political influence. Reporting like this is vital for democracy, for fairness and to demand better from the powerful.<\/p>\n And we provide all this for free, for everyone to read. We do this because we believe in information equality. Greater numbers of people can keep track of the global events shaping our world, understand their impact on people and communities, and become inspired to take meaningful action. Millions can benefit from open access to quality, truthful news, regardless of their ability to pay for it.<\/p>\n Whether you give a little or a lot, the support of readers like you from Venezuela will power our reporting for the years to come.<\/p>\n