Tag: trump crypto
Awash In Corruption, Trump Insists He Has No Idea How Family Glommed Billions

Awash In Corruption, Trump Insists He Has No Idea How Family Glommed Billions

President Donald Trump is downplaying the more than 235 percent increase in his annual income since his second term began, a clear attempt to obscure the pattern of corruption among his administration.

According to newly released financial disclosures, Trump reported $622 million in revenue in 2024. That jumped to more than $2.2 billion last year.

But when he was asked about the massive increase, Trump said he had nothing to do with it.

“Well, I’ve made a lot of money before I became president, and they invest my money, and I don’t talk to them. I never—I don’t even speak to them,” he said.

Trump’s argument doesn’t quite pass the smell test.

Most of Trump’s money comes from the financial stake he has in various cryptocurrency holdings—specifically World Liberty Financial, which is owned and operated by the Trump family.

Through World Liberty, multiple entities have sought to curry favor and buy influence with Trump. For example, before his second term began, the United Arab Emirates invested $500 million in World Liberty. Then, soon after he took office, the UAE was given access to new artificial intelligence technology.

Eric and Donald Trump Jr. have also been negotiating deals and raking in money through World Liberty, even as the rest of the crypto industry has seen a downturn. What does World Liberty have that those other companies don’t? The president.

Trump tried to attribute his windfall to the general rise of the stock market since he retook office. But the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 20 percent and the S&P 500 is up about 27 percent in the same period that Trump brought in his 235 percent gains.

Corruption and grift have been a hallmark of Trump’s presidency, with the open exchange of money, gifts, and favors for access and power.

According to the Center for American Progress, Trump and his family have received more than $2.6 billion in cash and gifts since January, while the public has been in the dark about what was traded away.

Meanwhile, Trump has presided over economic crises—including rising gas prices due to his war in Iran and increased costs for basic goods thanks to his tariffs. Despite this, Trump consistently calls affordability a “hoax.”

Sure, it’s a hoax—when you’re making billions off the presidency.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos


Trump Family Wins Big Again In Crypto, While Their Investors Lose Even Bigger

Trump Family Wins Big Again In Crypto, While Their Investors Lose Even Bigger

The Trump family cashed in big on a $500 million crypto deal, but their investors didn’t get so lucky.

In August 2025, Donald Trump Jr. and younger brother Eric inked a deal with Alt5 Sigma and celebrated at the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York City.

But less than 10 months later, the business that brought the first family a huge windfall is now facing closure.

With stock prices plummeting, Alt5 Sigma—now renamed AI Financial Corp.—is facing being delisted from the Nasdaq. But because of its prior purchase of $1.5 billion in crypto tokens from the Trump brothers’ trading platform World Liberty Financial, the family cashed in—despite the failure that quickly ensued for the financial technology company.

The suspicious nature of the deal prompted attorneys for Democracy Defenders Fund to urge the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch an investigation.

Attorneys warn that Alt5 Sigma had participated in “steering investor funds to entities co-owned by President Trump and his associates.”

The SEC has not launched an investigation or acknowledged the letter from the nonpartisan organization.

The Trump brothers have been heavily involved in the crypto community, building out the family empire as their father President Donald Trump slashed regulations around the highly volatile market.

Through World Liberty Financial, the Trumps have a stake in former UFC champion Conor McGregor’s business, MMA Inc., and the two brothers have made splashy appearances at a number of international crypto events.

According to CNBC, Eric boasted at a Hong Kong-based crypto conference last August that 90 percent of his time is now spent with the crypto community.

But when you look at how much the Trump family has won while those playing the crypto game have lost, the difference is stark.

When the family launched its $TRUMP meme coins, fans and investors alike jumped on the opportunity. In turn, the Trumps sat on a meme-coded pile of money that amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars.

Soon after, however, those who bought in on the investment began losing.

The Trumps have used crypto as a means to amass more wealth with little investment of their own, a Reuters investigation concluded.

According to the outlet, the president and his sons have added at least $2.3 billion to their family fortune, mainly through crypto. However, investors have taken a $2.3 billion hit.

“Under the Trump crypto playbook, the family always wins. Investors don’t,” the report concluded.

Two other ventures, like World Liberty Financial and an investment in American Bitcoin, have also resulted in pain for investors while the family raked in the profit.

Crypto platform WLF has even sparked a lawsuit for its alleged extortion of a billionaire backer.

Justin Sun, a crypto mogul who initially supported the Trump family’s efforts, sued World Family Financial after allegedly being pressured into buying more coins.

The crypto con adds to a growing list that includes Trump-branded cell phones, perfumes, sneakers, Bibles, social media apps, fin tech, and many other money grabs that have the president’s seal of approval.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos

Lara Trump

Lara Trump Blasted For Claiming Presidency Made 'Good-Hearted' Father-In-Law Poorer

Critics on social media were not buying Lara Trump’s pity party for President Donald Trump. They particularly did not care for her claim that Trump would have an easier time of things were he not president.

“Lara Trump was slammed for claiming her father-in-law’s life would be better if he weren't President of the United States,” reported RadarOnline.com. “Lara, 43, who is married to Donald Trump's son Eric, said in a recent interview that the business mogul has been punished financially by getting into politics – even though his net worth has climbed to $6.5billion from $2.6 billion in little over 14 months.”

“I wish people would appreciate how much easier Donald Trump’s life would’ve been if he'd never gotten involved in politics,” Lara Trump claimed on the podcast of Katie Miller, the wife of Trump’s senior advisor Stephen Miller. “He's the one President to leave the White House with less money than he went into it with. He’s had zeros come off his net worth because he ran for president.”But RadarOnline and other critics fact checked Lara Trump on the spot, with RadarOnline pointing out that “Donald Trump and his family made over $4 billion since he took office.”

“You cannot be serious. Unplug your head from Trump’s a——," said one critic on X, while another called her assertion “Absurd.”"Lara, you are f—— delusional,” wailed another on X, while a third called her claim “a complete lie. Trump is using the presidency to become richer.”

“Our [lives] would be so much better, too,” said another critic on X. “ … [M]aybe he should just quit now.”

“But [Trump is] a genuinely good-hearted person," Lara Trump added, while ignoring the fact that Trump threatened to extinguish the entire civilization of Iran on Easter and destroy their energy infrastructure.Lara Trump's claims stand in stark contradiction to documented financial realities.

Beyond the $4 billion accumulated by Trump and his family since taking office, investigative reporting has revealed specific mechanisms through which the presidency has enriched the Trump organization [including her husband Eric's firm recently winning a $24 million Pentagon deal}.

Foreign leaders and wealthy donors have funneled money into Trump-branded properties, investment funds, and business ventures at unprecedented rates. The World Liberty Financial crypto fund alone secured a half-billion-dollar investment from UAE officials shortly before Trump's inauguration—a transaction that coincided with the White House granting advanced AI chip access to the Emirates.

Meanwhile, Trump has collected hundreds of millions from corporate donors and wealthy individuals for vanity projects including a proposed presidential library, ballroom renovation, and triumphal arch, with tens of millions of those funds remaining unaccounted for. The assertion that Trump sacrificed financially for public service ignores the systematic weaponization of the presidency for personal enrichment.

Additionally, Trump's threats of genocide against Iran, his illegal war that has destabilized global markets and cost American consumers billions in increased energy costs, and his various corruption scandals paint a portrait of a president whose time in office has been characterized by personal gain at the expense of national stability and democratic norms. Lara Trump's narrative of victimhood rings hollow against this documented record.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Yes, Trump Is Seeking To Trademark (And Grift Off) America's 250th Birthday

Yes, Trump Is Seeking To Trademark (And Grift Off) America's 250th Birthday

President Donald Trump’s second term is so chock-full of corruption and grift that it seems almost too small to mention that the Trump Organization, his private company, just applied for trademarks for “Trump 250” in conjunction with America’s 250th birthday.

America! Get hyped for “Trump 250” bumper stickers, tote bags, drinkware, clothing, and golf balls, among other trash. And enjoy the opportunity to line Trump’s pockets while purchasing what will no doubt be some of the tackiest shit imaginable. Just look at what you can buy from Trump’s online store, which sells ugly merchandise that veers into “Dear Leader” territory pretty often.

In the terrible timeline we’re currently in, it makes perfect sense that Trump would seek to trademark this phrase. He is already warping America’s birthday into a celebration of himself instead. One of the proposed logos Trump wants trademarked is his name below five fighter jets, while another is just “TRUMP 250.”

Conveniently, his allies also set up Freedom 250, a group planning such patriotic events as paying for Trump’s big dumb arch, an IndyCar race in D.C., and, of course, a UFC fight on the White House lawn. If you slide at least $1 million to those efforts, you get access to Trump.Better yet, the person soliciting donations for Freedom 250 is Meredith O’Rourke, Trump’s fave fundraiser, who is also netting him millions in donations for his gaudy ballroom on the former site of the White House’s East Wing.

But those things allow only the rich to throw money at the president. What about the little people? Well, rest assured: “Trump 250” merchandise seemingly will include some affordable items that allow you to honor Dear Leader.

The Trump Organization also made sure to file to trademark all variations of “President Donald J. Trump International Airport” just before the Florida legislature voted to rename the West Palm Beach airport after him.

The company generously told the airport that it could use the name at no charge and would not profit from the renaming of the airport as far as signage, advertising, and promotions. Sure, but that applies to only the airport itself. Presumably, everyone selling airport-related merchandise, for example, will still get the privilege of paying to use the name.

There’s also the application to trademark Trump’s name for cryptocurrency, tech products, and NFTs. Oh, and there’s also the application to trademark “Trump” and “T1” for his telecommunications phone and service, if those ever launch.

Probably the most disgusting of all of these applications is the attempt to trademark “The Trump Kennedy Center,” the cultural center that he got his cronies to vote to illegally rename after him.

Trump has been pushing the envelope on this sort of thing for years. During his first term, he tried to use the presidential seal at his private golf courses. In a move that was both audacious and pathetic, he continued to use it when he was out of office.

It isn’t like the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, now run by Trump appointee John Squires, will push back. Squires has no background in government, but he is enough of a Trump loyalist that he refused to say in his confirmation hearings whether former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election. This is not a man concerned with the propriety of profiting off the presidency.

Unless Republican legislators come to their senses on this, Trump will continue to use the presidency to line his pockets. This is as corrupt—and tacky—as it gets.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos

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