There is no equivalent in the country's history, in the history of any country. In the United States, it is not uncommon to enter the White House with a certain fortune, and it is almost inevitable that a president becomes wealthy when leaving office, with lucrative offers for memoirs, speeches, or consultations. But there are no precedents for such unbridled enrichment while in office.
In 2025, Donald Trump's income soared to at least 2.2 billion dollars, a staggering amount compared to the 622 million dollars in 2024, before winning the elections. In his first year in office, the president pocketed over 1.4 billion dollars solely from the cryptocurrency businesses of his family. The official declaration filed at the Office of Government Ethics and made public on Tuesday shows that nearly 800 million dollars came through World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency firm founded with his children and the family of Steve Witkoff, the special envoy negotiating peace with Russia, Iran, or in Israel and who also has critical business dealings with the royal families of the Persian Gulf. Not coincidentally, a significant portion of those 799 million came from a payment from the United Arab Emirates, which acquired a prominent stake in the company.
Trump's income includes over 520 million dollars from the sale of tokens and over 250 million dollars from the sale of stakes in World Liberty. In January 2025, hours before taking office, Trump launched the $TRUMP cryptocurrency, a collectible token that generated 636 million dollars, more than the income he obtained from all his other global business operations the previous year.
Typically, when someone enters the White House, they place their assets and investments in a blind trust, a mechanism where an independent trustee manages the politician's fortune without their knowledge of investment decisions to prevent real or apparent conflicts of interest. The family of Lyndon B. Johnson placed the management of their radio stations across the country in blind hands. Jimmy Carter sold his stake in the family peanut farm. Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush used these blind trusts, and their son had to divest from oil sector investments. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, although not wealthy before becoming presidents, opted for diversified mechanisms without direct control. Trump did not. In both his first and second terms, he chose to maintain ownership of his companies with a revocable trust managed by his children and executives of his empire.
In the first quarter of this year alone, Trump's managers made 3,700 trading operations, including million-dollar purchases of shares in companies like Nvidia, Dell, and other major tech firms, which have benefited from the administration's decisions. "Neither President Trump, nor his family, nor the Trump Organization play any role in the selection, direction, or approval of specific investments," a Trump Organization spokesperson stated a few weeks ago.
In a few months, his fortune and assets have exponentially increased amid corruption accusations and conflicts of interest, with his family signing contracts with administrations or companies benefiting from those contracts, controversial awards, or investments of hundreds or billions from Gulf countries in Trump's or his main collaborators' businesses. The declaration shows income of over 80 million dollars from agreements with various media companies and 52 million dollars from licensing his name to foreign real estate developers, mainly through agreements with Middle Eastern partners.
According to Reuters estimates, the Trump family has earned at least 2.3 billion dollars from cryptocurrency-related projects since Trump returned to the White House in 2025, including, according to several complaints, operations that seem like donations in exchange for favors, such as presidential pardons to get out of prison. In October, for example, he pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the wealthiest man in the cryptocurrency world and founder of the Binance platform, which has been crucial for the Trump family's crypto development.
This administration has done everything possible to support the cryptocurrency industry, with new federal regulations for stablecoins or reducing the oversight power of the Department of Justice and the SEC. "Neither the president nor his family have ever—nor will they ever—engaged in conflicts of interest. President Trump is proud to have made the United States the world capital of cryptocurrencies through executive actions. All actions of President Trump and his Administration are taken for the benefit of the American people, and any supposed 'journalist' claiming otherwise is repeating the same false and tired narrative that Democrats and traditional media have been pushing for a decade," a White House spokesperson stated.
Although cryptocurrencies have become his main source of income, President Trump also profited from his traditional businesses. For example, a 15% increase in revenue from his golf facilities and hotels, totaling 500 million dollars in 2025. The largest increases occurred precisely in the clubs where the president has spent more time since taking office. Mar-a-Lago in Florida, where he spends almost every weekend of the year, except in summer, increased from 50 million dollars in 2024 to 77 million dollars, while the revenue from his golf club in nearby West Palm Beach increased by 27%. There, Trump plays golf on weekends, hosts guests, and even holds official meetings, requiring potential interlocutors to show up and be seen there.
Many of the country's leading companies, tech or crypto, have made million-dollar contributions in recent months to Trump's projects. His companies or his obsessions, such as the renovation of the White House Ballroom.