President Donald Trump has earned more than $1bn from cryptocurrency businesses since returning to the White House, according to his latest financial disclosure filed with the US Office of Government Ethics. The 927-page document, released on Tuesday, shows that Trump reported nearly $1.2bn from crypto ventures in 2025 alone, with some estimates suggesting his total in-office crypto earnings could reach $2.3bn.
Crypto empire built on memecoins and governance tokens
The lion’s share of the president’s digital fortune comes from two entities. World Liberty Financial (WLF), co-founded by Trump’s sons and business partners, generated more than $500m from the sale of “governance tokens” that grant holders voting rights on project decisions but no ownership stake. A Trump business entity owns 60% of WLF and is entitled to 75% of its token-sale revenue. The second major source is CIC Digital LLC, which sells “meme coins” stamped with the president’s face. A licence agreement with Celebration Coins brought in over $600m in royalties, largely from the $TRUMP meme coin launched just days before the inauguration in January 2025. The disclosure also lists income from stablecoin transactions and equity sales related to WLF and Stablecoin Holdco LLC, each worth hundreds of millions of dollars. CIC Digital holds significant cryptocurrency assets, including Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Trump has publicly championed making the United States the “crypto capital of the world”, and his administration has pursued friendly policies, including executive actions and legislation such as the GENIUS Act. Critics note that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) exempted meme coins from federal securities laws shortly after Trump and the First Lady launched their own coins, and the SEC has since dropped numerous lawsuits against major crypto firms. Trump also pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who had pleaded guilty to violating anti-money‑laundering laws, amid scrutiny of Binance’s alleged role in facilitating a large UAE investment in WLF. Trump has denied knowing Zhao.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly defended the earnings, saying: “Neither the president nor his family has ever engaged – or will ever engage – in conflicts of interest.” Asked about the sums on CNBC, Trump brushed off the concerns: “I’ve always made money. I’m a business person. I’m a really good business person.” He added that his son Eric handles his business matters and “I don’t talk to him about things such as this.” The disclosure also revealed repeated missed deadlines and omitted business deals required under federal ethics laws designed to expose conflicts of interest.
‘Obscene’ contrast with everyday struggles
More than 400 Americans responded to a Guardian call for their views on Trump’s ballooning fortune, expressing outrage, disgust and despair. Many contrasted his billions with the financial strain of ordinary families struggling with inflation and rising costs of living.
Gregg Savajian, a 72-year-old veteran in Washington state, called the earnings “an insult to working-class Americans, obviously a grift”, adding that he was “terrified of our future” as a country. Kathe Rhoades, a retired technical writer in Arlington, Massachusetts, said: “Trump cares about two things, and two things only: himself and money. Why the US apparently has no laws against the president, and his family, raking in millions of dollars through questionable dealings at home and abroad is utterly beyond me.” Brad Windsor, a 70-year-old retired firefighter in Ojai, California, who registered as an independent voter, described the situation as “blatant corruption” and called on Congress to act.
Daniel Oberhauser, a 47-year-old government worker in Saint Paul, Minnesota, said Trump’s earnings were “depressing and exhausting”. He told the Guardian he felt a squeeze from rising costs even as a self-described member of the middle class: “I’m one of the lucky ones, and I’m still counting pennies while my president is earning billions while stomping on the backs of Americans.” Jay Deshpande, a 22-year-old Indian‑American student looking for work, said the $2.2bn figure “speaks to the level of corruption and greed that defines Trump’s presidency. For a man who promised to be with the people, he has proven time and time again that he is only in it for himself and his robber baron friends.”
Mark Boettcher, a 60-year-old pediatrician in Janesville, Wisconsin, said frustration over the administration’s actions, including “the US health system, insurance failures, vaccination resistance”, had led him to retire early. He found the contrast between Trump’s extreme wealth and many Americans’ difficulty affording healthcare “obscene”. Andrea Jacoby Brandy, a 67-year-old mother and grandmother in Perrysburg, Ohio, described Trump as “greedy and cruel” for raking in billions while cutting healthcare with his “big beautiful bill” – a reference to the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” signed into law on 4 July 2025, which includes significant cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. “The idea that Donald Trump is making a profit off the government he oversees is disgusting,” she said.
Millie, a substitute teacher in Colorado, saw the president’s in‑office business dealings as befitting the “billionaire caste. Like other members of his caste, he’s utterly unconcerned with affordability or the financial situations of those who elected him. We’re not getting the government we want, but the one we deserve, as Mr Trump does what his caste does – take.” Linda Stuart, a 73-year-old retired science educator in Texas, said she worried whether American democracy could survive the growing divide between the wealthy and everyone else. “As we struggle to pay our bills, buy our gas, afford our rent, search desperately for insurance we can afford, and worry constantly about whether we’ll get social security or not, it is sickening and disgusting at how Trump and his family are lining their pockets,” she said.
Laurie Rivera, a librarian in New Mexico, voiced fears that weakened democratic institutions would hurt her children’s future. “I am concerned that my children are inheriting a compromised democracy, and this sends a very distressing image of humanity to their children,” she said. Elise, a 21-year-old medicine student and self‑described “farm girl” in Nebraska, said high gas and grocery prices under Trump, along with cuts to rural healthcare, had significantly disadvantaged her family, who all voted for him. She described her father and brother suffering from lack of medical access after an accident and a psychotic episode. “We are not doing well. We are so much worse than we were before Trump’s presidency. Meanwhile, this absolutely abhorrent maelstrom of a man is profiting from his position. From our pain. He doesn’t care about the lack of doctors in Nebraska or rural folks having difficulties affording gasoline or food. He does not care about us,” she said.
