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US President Donald Trump has responded to criticism of his 2025 financial disclosures, showing that he earned $1.4 billion in income from crypto-related ventures while in office.<\/p>\n
In a Thursday interview with CNBC\u2019s Joe Kernen, Trump said<\/a> that there was \u201cnothing illegal\u201d and \u201cnothing wrong\u201d with profiting from his crypto investments as president. He claimed that other people were responsible for his investments and he didn\u2019t \u201ceven know who they are,\u201d not directly answering questions about perceived conflicts of interest as president. <\/p>\n Donald Trump (left) and Joe Kernen (right). Source: <\/em>CNBC<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Trump\u2019s comments followed the release<\/a> of his 2025 financial disclosure report by the US Office of Government Ethics, showing that he took in more than $2 billion from his businesses and investments, about $1.4 billion of which was connected to crypto projects like his memecoin and family\u2019s platform World Liberty Financial. Many advocacy organizations have characterized<\/a> the investments as a \u201cgrift\u201d allowing the president to influence related legislation like the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act.<\/p>\n Following his first term as US president, Trump called Bitcoin (BTC) a \u201cscam.\u201d However, in the lead-up to the 2024 election, he began cozying up to many high-profile figures in the crypto industry, including Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and executives at mining companies and exchanges. He has since launched his own memecoin, Official Trump (TRUMP), in addition to his family\u2019s involvement in World Liberty and American Bitcoin.<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong><\/em>Donald Trump has 10 days to decide on housing bill with CBDC ban<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Of the $1.4 billion tied to crypto, Trump disclosed that his memecoin generated about $636 million, World Liberty sales about $588 million and $197 million from equity in a stablecoin venture.<\/p>\n \u201cDonald is once again pushing the envelope and nobody, nobody is putting the brakes on it,\u201d Mary Trump, the president\u2019s niece, said<\/a> in a Friday interview with CNN\u2019s Anderson Cooper. \u201cAt the end of the day, because of his abuse of the presidential pardon power, a lot of people are likely to get away with a lot of financial crimes that have done real harm to people that have invested in Donald\u2019s businesses because they believed in him and what he was selling.\u201d<\/p>\n After digital asset companies spent a reported $170 million toward supporting whom they considered \u201cpro-crypto\u201d candidates to Congress in 2024, political action committees (PACs) and organizations appear to have adopted the same playbook for 2026.<\/p>\n According to the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, companies and figures tied to the crypto industry had contributed $189 million<\/a> toward this year\u2019s election cycle as of June. The contributions made up the bulk of the $294 million from the crypto, AI, Big Tech and online betting companies spent so far to support or oppose politicians.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s term ends in January 2029, but all 435 seats in the US House of Representatives and 35 in the Senate are up for grabs in the 2026 races.<\/p>\nCrypto industry bets big on 2026 US elections<\/h2>\n