The scale of wealth amassed by the First Family of the United States is unprecedented in American history.
As the anniversary of Donald Trump's return to the White House draws near, keeping track of his family's lavish spending is proving to be a formidable challenge. New deals and revelations seem to surface every week. Because the Trump family and many of its affiliated businesses are privately owned, a complete picture of their finances is impossible. However, by tracking corporate announcements, official documents, and in-depth reporting from various media outlets, a clear picture is emerging: the scale of wealth amassed by the First Family is unprecedented in American history. Previously, relatives of other presidents, including Donald Nixon, Billy Carter, and Hunter Biden, have also been involved in questionable business transactions. But in terms of the scale of funds involved, the geographical reach, and the direct connection to presidential executive actions—especially Trump's efforts to make the United States the "crypto capital of the world"—this term of the "Trump Organization" is absolutely unprecedented.
Early planning
The timeline goes back to September 2024, two months before the presidential election. At that time, Trump announced that his family would partner with his old friend, the family of real estate developer Steve Witkoff, and two relatively unknown internet entrepreneurs, Zachary Folkman and Chase Herro, to form a new cryptocurrency company—World Liberty Financial. His three sons, Eric, Donald Jr., and Barron, would also be involved. Trump stated on social media, "Cryptocurrency is something we have to do, whether we like it or not, I have to push it forward." By October, he had clearly overcome his concerns about marketing a digital asset of questionable value to his supporters. In promotional material for the World Liberty Financial token sale, he declared, "This is your opportunity to help shape the future of finance."
According to Reuters, the Trump family received 70 cents for every $1 raised by World Liberty Financial through its token sale. Cryptocurrency media reported that while initial demand for the token was weak, it attracted a major buyer: Justin Sun, the founder of the Tron cryptocurrency platform and a Chinese-American billionaire, who invested $30 million. At the time, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was suing Justin Sun and his company for fraud and other violations, which Justin Sun denied. In a tweet announcing the investment, Justin Sun wrote: "Tron is committed to making America great again and leading innovation. Let's do it!"
After winning the election, Trump continued his first-term practice: refusing to divest his businesses, instead placing them only in a revocable trust. Although the trust is managed by his eldest son Eric and Donald Jr., Trump remains the de facto owner of the Trump Organization. The potential conflict of interest is obvious: if the policies or actions implemented by the re-elected president benefit his family businesses, he and his family could profit from it.
Following the election, Donald Jr. further expanded his business empire by joining the venture capital fund "1789." This fund was co-founded by two conservative financiers, Omid Malik and Charles Basque, and Rebecca Mercer, a conservative hedge fund heiress. According to the New York Post, "1789" has raised substantial funds from Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds. The fund's early investments focused on conservative media (including companies owned by Tucker Carlson), but by the time Donald Jr. joined, its investment scope had expanded to other sectors such as consumer goods, defense, and technology.
On January 17, 2025, three days before Trump's second inauguration, he once again ventured into the cryptocurrency space, launching a new meme coin—MELANIA. Unlike World Liberty, which grants holders corporate governance rights, these two tokens are simply meme coins: Trump is currently the most popular digital meme coin globally, and this is just the beginning.
Amass wealth
Since Trump's return to the White House, various global powers have been eager to establish good relations with him, resulting in a flurry of developments, many involving cryptocurrencies, foreign funds, or both. One of his first actions after taking office was to order various departments to review regulations affecting the digital asset industry and propose "repeal or amendment." In February, the SEC, under new leadership, requested the court to suspend its lawsuit against Justin Sun— Justin Sun stake in World Liberty Financial had increased to $75 million by then.
In March, Trump hosted a cryptocurrency summit at the White House (organized by "crypto czar" and Silicon Valley venture capitalist David Sachs) and announced plans to establish a U.S. "strategic Bitcoin reserve." Later that month, Eric and Donald Jr. merged their newly established company with Canadian Bitcoin mining firm Hut 8, acquiring a stake in the new company, American Bitcoin. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company aims to become the world's largest Bitcoin miner and establish its own Bitcoin reserve.
That spring, the Trump brothers also expanded their business into other areas, focusing particularly on the Persian Gulf region. In April, Saudi Arabia-owned real estate developer Dar Global announced plans to open a Trump hotel in Dubai and build a Trump golf resort in neighboring Qatar—the company had previously collaborated with the Trump family on several Trump-branded projects in the Middle East, and Eric Trump himself had attended related launch events in the Gulf region.
Back in Washington, D.C., Donald Jr. attended the launch of another of his business investments: the upscale Washington, D.C. club, Executive Branch. Membership fees reportedly reach $500,000. News reports indicate that Jr. is one of the club's owners, along with his partners at the "1789" fund, Malik and Basque, and Steve Witkoff's two sons, Zach and Alex (both co-founders of World Liberty Financial). CNBC reported that guests at the launch included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Attorney General Pam Bondi, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr.
Cryptocurrencies and attracting foreign investors remain central to the Trump family's wealth-building strategy. A Reuters in-depth report published in October on its "global cryptocurrency ATM" revealed that in May, Eric Trump promoted World Liberty Financial to potential investors at a cryptocurrency conference in Dubai, including Guren Bobby Zhou, a Chinese businessman arrested in the UK on suspicion of money laundering—Zhou denies all charges and has not yet been convicted. Reuters also noted that subsequently, a UAE company associated with Zhou purchased $100 million worth of World Liberty Financial tokens, WLFI. Clearly, such foreign investment is not an isolated case: Reuters' analysis shows that over two-thirds of WLFI token purchases came from digital wallets potentially linked to overseas buyers.
Trump also profited from official "gifts." The U.S. Constitution explicitly states that federal officials, including the president, cannot accept gifts from foreign governments without congressional approval. However, in February, Trump, who had been complaining about the slow progress of the new Air Force One construction, visited Palm Beach International Airport to inspect a luxury Boeing 747 owned by the Qatari government. In May, days before departing for visits to Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, Trump announced on social media that the Pentagon would accept the Boeing 747, a gift from the Qatari royal family, as a "free gift" to replace the existing Air Force One. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt stated in a statement: "Accepting gifts from foreign governments is entirely in accordance with all applicable laws, and the Trump Administration is committed to maintaining complete transparency."
Another deal involving Gulf states and benefiting the Trump family has garnered relatively less attention: MGX, an investment fund controlled by the UAE government, invested $2 billion in Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, using a stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial to complete the payment. Stablecoins are touted as a safer form of cryptocurrency, backed by reserves of other assets such as the US dollar, essentially providing a way to trade in the cryptocurrency space without worrying about drastic price fluctuations.
It's no exaggeration to say that the background of MGX's transaction with Binance is quite peculiar. Last year, Binance founder and Chinese-Canadian cryptocurrency billionaire Changpeng Zhao (CZ) pleaded guilty to failing to effectively implement anti-money laundering procedures at his cryptocurrency exchange and served four months in a U.S. federal prison. In March of this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that Zhao was seeking a presidential pardon. That same month, World Liberty Financial announced the issuance of its own stablecoin, USD1—and the use of this new stablecoin in MGX's transaction with Binance completely transformed its market position. The Wall Street Journal noted, "This transaction caused the cryptocurrency's circulation to surge 15 times, making it one of the world's largest stablecoins overnight." Simultaneously, World Liberty Financial's account received $2 billion, which can be used to invest in assets such as government bonds—which, according to Bloomberg estimates, could generate $80 million in annual returns and flow directly into the Trump family business.
Why did Binance and MGX choose to use USD1, a stablecoin that was essentially untested by the market? MGX told Forbes magazine that the parties chose this new stablecoin because it was "managed by an independent U.S. custodian and its asset reserves are held in an externally audited custodian account." However, a more realistic explanation is widely believed: Changpeng Zhao sought a pardon, while the UAE hoped to curry favor with the U.S. government, which could grant it valuable policy benefits. The New York Times, in a detailed recap of the deal, pointed out that two weeks after the transaction was completed, the White House allowed the UAE to import hundreds of thousands of advanced computer chips that had previously been subject to U.S. export restrictions.
Summer is typically a slow season for business, but this year was different for the Trump family. In July, Congress passed the GENIUS Act, pushing the administration to establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins—but this did not alleviate concerns among some who believed that integrating cryptocurrencies into the mainstream financial system could pose risks. That same month, Trump Media & Technology announced it had purchased approximately $2 billion worth of Bitcoin and other related securities, emulating Michael Thaler's Strategy, transforming itself from a social media business into a "Bitcoin treasury." Following the announcement, the company's stock price surged—after a significant drop since the beginning of the year. In August, the Trump family made financial moves with World Liberty Financial: investing in a small publicly traded company, which subsequently issued $750 million worth of stock to purchase WLFI tokens. A Wall Street Journal article noted, "This kind of circular trading, where the buyer and seller are the same entity trading its own products, is more common in the cryptocurrency space than in traditional finance." In early September, some WLFI tokens began trading on cryptocurrency exchanges; two days later, American Bitcoin, owned by Eric and Donald Jr., listed on Nasdaq, and its share price immediately rose. Bloomberg reported that these moves earned the Trump family "approximately $1.3 billion."
The related transactions and controversies continued into the fall. In October, Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, sparking public outcry, but he claimed he did not know the cryptocurrency entrepreneur and added that the pardon was "at the request of many honest people." In November, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee released a staff report alleging that Trump "used his position to become a cryptocurrency billionaire, providing broad protection for fraudsters, scammers, and other cybercriminals—who in turn paid millions of dollars in 'tribute' to the president and his family." In response to the report, White House Press Secretary Levitt stated, "The president and his family have never been, and will never be, involved in a conflict of interest. The administration is delivering on its promise to 'make America the cryptocurrency capital of the world' through executive action and support for legitimate policies such as the GENIUS Act, promoting innovation and economic opportunities."
Overall Income and Expenditure
There are various estimates regarding the total amount of money the Trump family has amassed. Reuters estimates that the family profited approximately $800 million through cryptocurrency sales in the first half of this year; the Financial Times, however, points out that their total wealth exceeds $1 billion in the 12 months ending October 2025. If non-cryptocurrency business revenues (licensing agreements, gifts, special media deals, legal settlements, etc.) are included, the Center for American Progress, a think tank closely linked to the Democratic Party, estimates that the family's "total profits" since Trump's re-election reach $1.8 billion. Looking at a longer timeframe, my colleague David Kirkpatrick estimates that Trump has profited $3.4 billion from presidential-related businesses since 2016.
It's important to note that these figures refer to cash income and do not include the increase in Trump and his family's paper wealth—especially through their holdings in World Liberty Financial and other cryptocurrency companies. After WLFI tokens began trading on cryptocurrency exchanges in September, statistics showed that the family's cryptocurrency wealth had reached a paper value of $5 billion or even higher.
However, in the past few months, the market capitalization of almost all cryptocurrency assets (including those related to the Trump family) has fallen sharply: the value of Trump Meme has dropped by about 80%, and MELANIA Meme has plummeted by 98.5%; the stock of Trump Media & Technology (which, from a financial perspective, is now essentially a Bitcoin acquisition vehicle) has fallen by nearly 70% year-to-date and by nearly 40% since it began massively increasing its cryptocurrency holdings; World Liberty Financial is a privately held company with no publicly traded shares, but the value of its WLFI token has fallen by more than a third since the beginning of September; and the stock price of American Bitcoin, which is associated with Eric Trump, has fallen by more than 75% in the same period.
For the Trump family and their business partners, this market crash is a painful consequence of their "all-in on cryptocurrency" strategy. Their future prospects largely depend on the performance of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Even after the recent plunge, the Trump family's digital assets still have a book value of billions of dollars; even if the cryptocurrency market goes to zero tomorrow, the family will still retain the cash it has amassed since Trump's return to the White House—and there is still the possibility of further wealth accumulation in the future.
Earlier this month, the Financial Times reported that the Pentagon's Strategic Capital Office, established in 2022 by the Biden administration to fund research and development of new technologies with national security applications, provided a $620 million loan to Vulcan Earth, a rare earth startup associated with Donald Trump Jr. The company recently received investment from the "1789" fund (of which Trump Jr. is a partner). A spokesperson for Trump Jr. told the Financial Times that he was not involved in the company's transactions with the government; Pentagon and Commerce Department officials, as well as Vulcan Earth's CEO, all echoed this statement.
Nevertheless, this loan has raised questions. The Financial Times reported, "This year, at least four companies in the '1789' fund's portfolio received contracts from the Trump administration totaling $735 million." From one perspective, this might indicate that the "1789" fund adopted a shrewd business strategy—aligning its investments with the new priorities of the Trump administration and the Pentagon; but from another perspective, it seems more like another round of wealth accumulation by the Trump family. When the public affairs and private interests of this administration become so intertwined, the truth becomes difficult to discern.
