Trump family’s cryptocurrency ties raise concerns as administration eases regulations

Amna Nawaz:

As President Trump’s administration has eased regulations on cryptocurrencies and pledged to make the United States the cryptocurrency capital of the world, his family’s ties to the industry raise ethical concerns and blur the lines between business and government.

Our White House correspondent Liz Landers takes a closer look.

Liz Landers:

For more than a year, President Trump’s two eldest sons, Eric and Don Jr., have been roadshows around the world preaching the virtues of cryptocurrencies…

Eric Trump, Executive Vice President, The Trump Organization:

I believe it will change your modern financial system forever.

(acclaim)

Liz Landers:

…and promoting a cryptocurrency company backed by the Trump family called World Liberty Financial.

Donald Trump Jr., Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization:

Yes, we call it universal freedom because of the freedom aspect of it, but also because of the global aspect of it, right? This is not just about America.

Liz Landers:

Launched in September 2024, World Liberty Financial describes itself as a “decentralized finance company.”

President Donald Trump:

Big news, the World Liberty Financial token sale is now live. Encryption is the future. Let’s embrace this amazing technology and lead the world in the digital economy. Go to www.worldlibertyfinancial.com.

Liz Landers:

Its website describes President Trump as an honorary co-founder and lists his three sons, Eric, Don Jr. and Barron Trump, as co-founders. Also listed are honorary co-founder Steve Witkoff, now President Trump’s special diplomatic envoy, and Witkoff’s sons Zach and Alex, both co-founders.

A footnote on the website notes that both President Trump and Steve Witkoff were impeached — quote — “upon taking office.”

Last month, President Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. In 2023, the company admitted to evading US sanctions laws, and Zhao, known as CZ, pleaded guilty to violating anti-money laundering laws.

President Trump told 60 Minutes after the pardon was issued that he did not know Chao.

Donald Trump:

I don’t know who he is. I know he was sentenced to four months in prison or something, and I heard it was a Biden hound.

Liz Landers:

White House Press Secretary Carolyn Leavitt:

Carolyn Leavitt, White House Press Secretary:

It means that he has no personal relationship with this person. When it comes to pardons, the White House takes them very seriously. There is an entire team of qualified attorneys who consider every clemency application that ultimately reaches the President of the United States.

man:

We are pleased to announce today…

Liz Landers:

Earlier this year, when a UAE state-owned investment firm sought to invest in Binance, Zhao gave a major boost to World Liberty Financial’s credibility, reportedly pushing for the $2 billion deal to be pushed using World Liberty Financial’s new stablecoin, USD1, a type of cryptocurrency that maintains a fixed price and, in the case of USD1, is pegged to the US dollar.

Richard Teng, CEO of Binance, denied reports that prompted his company to use $1.3.

Richard Teng, CEO of Binance:

We were not involved in this situation. USD1 was listed on other exchanges before it was listed on Binance, right? So a lot of these reports are misclassified. They are completely liars.

Liz Landers:

It was one of World Liberty Financial’s first major deals and generated a windfall for the Trump family.

Ziqi Fu, Bloomberg:

You can think of this kind of like Binance putting a $2 billion deposit into the Trumps’ bank. And so $2 billion has been kept there since then as far as we know. And universal freedom earns interest on it.

Liz Landers:

Zeke Fu is an investigative reporter at Bloomberg and the author of Rising Numbers: Cryptocurrencies’ Wild Rise and Spectacular Fall.

Do we know how much the Trump family has made from World Liberty Financial at this point?

Zeke Fu:

At World Liberty, I estimate $400 million, $500 million. And this is just one of their many crypto works. The Trump family likely made more than $1 billion in cryptocurrencies during the year Donald Trump took office.

Liz Landers:

That total dwarfs what the Trump family earned from its other businesses in the first half of this year: $33 million from golf clubs and resorts and $23 million from licensing the Trump name, according to a recent Reuters investigation.

Donald Trump:

My children are in it. I’m glad they’re probably a big industry, cryptocurrencies. I think it’s good. They run a business. They are not in the government.

Donald Trump Jr:

Therefore, the idea of ​​democratizing finance will not be implemented in the traditional banking way. This will be done in the field of cryptography.

Liz Landers:

In early August, a Nasdaq company called ALT5 Sigma bought another World Liberty product for $750 million, a cryptocurrency called WLFI.

Eric Trump:

What we’re going to do with this company is absolutely amazing, and I couldn’t be prouder.

Liz Landers:

The Trump family company receives up to 75 percent of the revenue from World Liberty Financial token sales after expenses.

David Yaffe Bellani, The New York Times:

This currency has created a new way for people to channel money to the president.

Liz Landers:

David Yaffe-Bellani covers the cryptocurrency industry for The New York Times. He says Trump’s cryptocurrency projects offer a new way to circumvent campaign finance laws.

David Yaffe Belani:

With cryptocurrencies, there are none of these rules. So people residing in foreign countries who are prohibited from donating to the political process in the United States have this new way to direct money toward the president.

Liz Landers:

When asked about the possibility of foreign governments investing in the company to curry favor with the president, a spokesperson said — quote — “World Liberty Financial is a private fintech company and is in no way a political entity.”

Separate from World Liberty, there is another vehicle for cryptocurrencies, which are Trump meme coins. There is one named Trump and another named Melania. The Trump family and its associates generated more than $300 million in fees from coin sales, according to several analyses.

But for investors, it’s different. The value of the Trump coin fell about 90 percent from its all-time high shortly after it debuted in January. Melania’s currency fell by 99 percent.

Zeke Fu:

Creating a meme coin doesn’t really take much. You’re selling like a token that doesn’t do anything for real money. So it’s pretty much pure profit.

Liz Landers:

In May, President Trump held a cryptocurrency dinner at his country club in Virginia with some of the biggest investors in his Trump meme coin, and guests included Justin Sun, a Chinese-born cryptocurrency billionaire who was facing SEC charges for securities fraud. Sun also invested more than $75 million in Trump-backed World Liberty Financial. A few weeks after the purchases, the SEC temporarily halted the case against him.

Is this a way for foreign investors, foreign companies or foreign individuals to try to gain influence over the president?

David Yaffe Belani:

It’s a complicated question. There is absolutely no doubt that some of the people who bought and used this currency want to have influence over the president and see this as a way to get it.

My colleagues and I spoke to some of them, and they were very frank about their motivations.

Liz Landers:

In a statement, White House Press Secretary Carolyn Leavitt said, in part – I quote – “The media’s continued attempts to fabricate conflicts of interest are irresponsible and reinforce the public’s mistrust of what they read. Neither the President nor his family have ever engaged or will ever engage in a conflict of interest. The Administration is fulfilling the President’s promise to make the United States the cryptocurrency capital of the world by driving innovation and economic opportunity for all Americans.”

Just last year, the president’s estimated net worth jumped to $3 billion, according to Forbes, the main source of that wealth: cryptocurrencies.

On the “PBS News Hour,” I’m Liz Landers.