The president’s getting richer — but many midterm voters aren’t
Many Americans may not be feeling Donald Trump’s economic “golden age” — but the president’s bank account is.
He earned billions of dollars last year in cryptocurrency holdings, royalty payments and property investments and healthy profits by selling Trump-branded Bibles, watches and sneakers, according to his latest annual financial disclosure, released Tuesday.
It was a fresh reminder that this is a presidency like none before it. Far from ostentatiously cutting himself off completely from his personal financial arrangements while in office, like all of his modern predecessors, Trump has created new ones — for instance, by issuing his own cryptocurrency tokens.
Although presidents and vice presidents are mostly not covered by existing ethics laws, they’ve tended to conduct their affairs as if they were, not least to avoid the political consequences of failing to do so.
But ever since Trump flouted custom by refusing to release his tax returns in his 2016 presidential campaign, he’s tended to ignore conventions surrounding his wealth and business — and appears largely to have escaped lasting political damage.
Details of Trump’s growing wealth were contained in the release of his mandatory financial declarations. There is no evidence or suggestion of criminal wrongdoing or action against the president.
But there could be political accountability.
One question now is whether the latest news of Trump’s wealth, and growing concerns among critics of potential conflicts of interest, will cut through with the public at a time when most Americans are not doing as well as their president.
It was either a sign of being out of touch or sheer political bravado that led him to address this disconnect Wednesday before boarding his new luxury Air Force One — a gift from Qatar worth an estimated $400 million.
“We’re all profiting. I’m profiting because I have a lot of money and a lot of cash,” he said.
Presidents long worried about ethical signals
The presidency has generally been regarded as a public trust meant to govern for the benefit of everyone. So it’s only natural that the scale of Trump’s financial gains might make voters uneasy.
It’s precisely to avoid such scrutiny that most past presidents have taken steps to separate themselves from their fortunes or financial interests while in power. Jimmy Carter, for instance, put his family peanut farm in a blind trust administered by a law firm in Atlanta before he took office in January 1977.
At its most basic level, this is a question of propriety. But Trump’s financial arrangements also risk creating controversy that could damage the reputation of the US political system and the economy.
It’s one thing for Trump to continue his lifelong practice of making money through branding — as with more than $200,000 in royalties for Trump Bibles, $4.7 million in Trump watches and $67,634 for Trump fragrances and sneakers he made in 2025, according to his mandatory financial disclosures.
This might strike some citizens as a distasteful misuse of a platform given to him by voters who hope he’ll help fix their problems. But it is Trump’s hugely profitable cryptocurrency ventures that are drawing the most attention in Washington.
The administration has placed the fledgling crypto industry at the center of its economic policy. The executive branch is charged with regulating the industry, and many experts have noted that it’s loosening Securities and Exchange Commission scrutiny.
“It becomes impossible to know: Is the president creating this regulation around cryptocurrency for his own benefit, for his holdings, or is he doing it because he thinks that’s truly what’s best for the American people?” said Danielle Caputo, senior counsel for ethics at the Campaign Legal Center.
Trump insisted Wednesday that he has “funds that run my money” and that he never speaks to those in charge of them. There is no sign that he runs the day-to-day operations of his real estate empire.
But Trump netted more than $526 million from sales of cryptocurrency tokens tied to World Liberty Financial LLC — a firm managed in part by his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. The brothers were captured by cameras standing on the tarmac as Trump spoke to the press before flying to North Dakota. The president also inked a licensing agreement for the sale of his meme coin that netted him $635 million, according to the disclosures.
The White House has long dismissed questions about potential conflicts between Trump’s official role and his financial interests, arguing that he always puts the American people first. Trump has said in recent weeks that he’s restored national prosperity just in time for the country’s 250th birthday on Saturday.
