Starting off as mere startups when he assumed office, these new enterprises have now surpassed much of his extensive property portfolio accumulated over several decades. This surge was driven by billionaire backers and Trump’s efforts to hinder federal regulation of the sector.
According to the required annual disclosure report filed with the Office of Government Ethics, Trump earned over $500 million from his World Liberty Financial business selling new crypto offerings, including “governance tokens.” Additionally, another venture, CIC Digital LLC, accumulated more than $600 million from sales of novelty “meme” coins featuring his likeness.
Both the tokens and the coins have significantly declined in value since their initial sales.
Trump also earned millions last year from selling items branded with his name, including bibles, sneakers, and other small goods, marking an unprecedented approach for a sitting president. The sale of Trump-branded watches alone yielded $4.7 million.
The 927-page disclosure form provides a stark, albeit incomplete, perspective on the considerable expansion of the president’s wealth since taking office in January, achieved through a network of business interests that many have profited from due to Trump’s own governmental policy changes. While Trump maintains that his sons manage his financial matters, this setup undermines the conflict of interest safeguards established by his recent predecessors.
Forbes estimates Trump’s net worth now totals $6 billion, up from $2.3 billion in 2024.
Notably, the rise of cryptocurrency as compared to Trump’s property ventures is particularly striking, as he once campaigned on his real estate successes. Remarkably, his real estate business also thrived last year, yielding tens of millions in fees from a surge of new hotel, resort, and condo deals abroad, marking the largest expansion of the family business in its century-long history.
Many of these nations were in negotiations with the U.S. concerning tariffs, military support, and other significant issues.
A property in the United Arab Emirates earned the Trump business $10.4 million. Another in Saudi Arabia, being developed by a real estate mogul close to the ruling family, contributed $9 million, and properties in Bucharest, Romania, and Qatar each netted him $5 million.
One of his key domestic assets, Mar-a-Lago in Florida, also experienced substantial growth last year.
From this property, Trump garnered $77 million, marking a 50% increase from the preceding year when he was just a private citizen, as heads of state and business leaders flocked there during his new term.
The disclosure report does not provide profit figures, only revenue, making it impossible to ascertain his actual earnings.
Following his inauguration, Trump reversed the Biden administration’s strict stance on the crypto sector, advocating for policies more favorable to the industry.
However, regulators still expressed concerns. Before World Liberty started selling “governance tokens,” they issued warnings about this novel type of crypto asset, asserting that unlike stocks, the tokens do not confer ownership rights in the issuing company, only voting power on specific corporate policies, and are challenging to appraise.
Nonetheless, buyers flocked to these tokens, including a Chinese billionaire who invested $75 million in tokens and $200 million in souvenir coins. A federal lawsuit launched against Trump for defrauding investors was temporarily halted last February before a $10 million settlement.
This billionaire, Justin Sun, has consistently denied that his investments in Trump’s businesses had any connection to his federal case, while World Liberty has disregarded any potential conflict of interest.
In the meantime, investors have witnessed a significant drop in the value of their meme coin holdings. Prices surged to over $74 shortly after launching in January 2025, but currently sit at just $1.68. Similarly, the value of World Liberty tokens has plummeted by 80% since their trading commenced in September.
The White House frequently states that Trump has placed his businesses in a trust managed by his sons, asserting there are no conflicts of interest and he acts solely for the nation’s benefit. The Trump Organization has claimed that its overseas agreements were with private companies, not governments.
Nonetheless, determining what is genuinely private in countries governed by authoritarian regimes, royal families, and single-party systems is complex.
For a new Trump resort in Vietnam, the report reveals that he earned $5 million last year after the ruling communist party’s deputy prime minister endorsed the deal, with reports indicating that farmers were displaced from their land to facilitate construction.
Whether these transactions influenced U.S. policies in ways sought by these nations remains nearly impossible to determine, but it is clear that these countries achieved their objectives.
Vietnam received tariff relief, Qatar gained access to advanced U.S. technology that had previously been restricted, and Saudi Arabia obtained coveted U.S. fighter jets.
