The deals pushing the Trump family’s wealth to new heights
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What financial links is Trump deepening during his presidency?
Hey there, it's Shamita. I've got a quick request for you. If Apple News Today is an essential part of your morning routine, follow the show in Apple Podcasts. And if you have another 30 seconds, leave us a rating and a review too. It helps other people find our show and it helps us know what you like about it. Thanks. Good morning. It's Wednesday, May 28th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, aid distribution in Gaza gets off to a slow, chaotic start. Syrians struggle with reconciliation after Assad's fall. And RFK Jr. says COVID vaccines are no longer recommended for children and pregnant women. But first, President Trump appears to be deepening his financial links to cryptocurrency.
Yesterday, the parent company of Trump's social media platform, Truth Social, announced a series of deals to raise $2.5 billion, which it plans to invest in Bitcoin. What began as a tech company is seemingly moving toward financial services. It comes after the private crypto dinner Trump hosted that we mentioned last week on the show, and which sparked allegations that he was corruptly leveraging his position in power to score personally lucrative deals. People who attended the dinner spent a combined $148 million on Trump's crypto token just for the chance to be there. Crypto is only one piece of the Trump family's sprawling business empire. It touches everything from real estate to digital trading cards to apparel like watches and sneakers. Max Abelson with Bloomberg recently examined its scope.
How is cryptocurrency influencing Trump's wealth?
The thing to know about the Trump family's money-making machine is that it is really big. And that from our eyes, from our journalistic position, no modern American president has put their family in a position to make money like this
In fact, the scale of Trump's political comeback, winning the White House after being impeached twice and losing the 2020 election, being criminally indicted four times and being convicted of felony crimes by a jury of his peers, is perhaps matched only by the moneymaking that's accompanied his return to power. Since the early days of his reelection campaign, he has more than doubled his net worth to about $5.4 billion, according to Bloomberg.
What we're seeing now is a new era of moneymaking for the family.
In previous administrations, presidents divested themselves from virtually all of their business interests or put them in a blind trust managed by an independent party, all to avoid conflicts of interest or even the appearance that they were making decisions for personal profit versus the public good. But Trump, in both of his terms, has handed off responsibility of his businesses to his children, and his assets are in a trust that's overseen by his oldest son, Donald Trump Jr. When reached for comment, Trump Jr. told Abelson he doesn't think it would be fair to expect him to change his own personal business practices just because his father is president again.
What controversies surround Trump's financial dealings?
He said, look, it's essentially silly to expect me to change careers just because my dad is in power. You know, I've been a businessman all my life. Then the White House, they said, look, he is the most transparent president ever. And he sacrificed by stepping away from his empire. And that's the way he sees it. And that's fair. And we let readers know.
Trump's second term has also broken from some of the guardrails he put in place in his first term. Back then, the Trump Organization said it would not make any new foreign deals. But that's no longer the case. Now the organization is only restricting itself from deals with foreign governments. But in a number of instances, Abelson found that lines had been blurred.
One thing we found is that their new projects include arms of governments. I'm thinking of Qatar. I'm thinking of Oman. You know, it's a little bit less direct. But even in Vietnam, the prime minister, I believe, sat down with one of the Trump organization's financial partners in Vietnam. It becomes harder and harder to say there is no connection at all.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What financial links is Trump deepening during his presidency?
0:00–1:47
2
How is cryptocurrency influencing Trump's wealth?
1:47–3:11
3
What controversies surround Trump's financial dealings?
3:11–5:39
4
How have Trump's children managed his business interests?
5:39–8:32
5
What is the current state of aid distribution in Gaza?
8:32–10:23
6
What criticisms have emerged regarding the aid distribution plan?
10:23–11:32
7
What are the implications of Israel's aid distribution strategy?
11:32–14:20
Speakers
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