Trump's businesses in the White House. The president's family earned hundreds of millions of dollars

Billions in profits, controversial donations from foreign powers and unprecedented monetization of political influence by the cryptocurrency market. A year after Donald Trump returned to the White House, the line between the public interest and the president's private wallet has become completely blurred. Market analyzes indicate that serving in office has become one of the most profitable ventures in Trump's career.

The latest analyzes cited by “The New York Times” show that Donald Trump used the presidency to generate at least an additional USD 1.4 billion in wealth. This amount is considered a conservative estimate because much of the Trump Organization's financial operations, particularly in the digital asset sector, remain outside standard public oversight. For comparison, this increase corresponds to over 16.8 thousand times the median annual income of an American household.

While U.S. presidents have historically avoided commercializing their image, the current administration appears to treat politics as leverage for global business. It is worth recalling that When Harry Truman left office in 1953, he did not even own a car and returned to Missouri with his wife by train, living for a time on his military pension.. Truman refused to take jobs that could be seen as commercializing his public service, explaining that he wanted someone to hire him, not him as former president.

Trump is supported by foreign expansion and crypto market

Trump's enrichment is facilitated by foreign expansion. The Trump Organization is currently running over 20 development projects in countries such as Oman, India and Vietnam. It was in Vietnam that one of the most striking correlations occurred: the Trump administration eased customs restrictions on Hanoi just a month after the local authorities issued express approvals for the construction of a golf complex worth USD 1.5 billion, bearing the president's name. Additionally, the balance sheet was credited with a “gift” from the government of Qatar – a luxurious Boeing 747 worth USD 400 million, which, although currently used as Air Force One, is to become the private property of the Trump Foundation after the end of his term.

However, the real “gamechanger” turned out to be the crypto market. As reported by Reuters, The Trump family has earned at least $867 million from digital asset projects. This mechanism arouses particular emotions among corruption analysts – the sale of family tokens (including $MELANIA or shares in World Liberty Financial) allows foreign investors and lobbyists to almost directly transfer funds to the president's pocket without having to reveal their identity.

Millions of dollars also from media settlements

Relationships with technology and media giants have proven equally lucrative. Meta, YouTube, X (formerly Twitter) and Paramount paid Trump a total of $90.5 million in settlements. Experts note their specific timing – Paramount transferred USD 16 million to the president in connection with the intelligence assembly dispute exactly three weeks before the federal regulator (FCC) approved the company's merger worth USD 8 billion. Amazon's contract for a documentary about Melania Trump (USD 28 million) is assessed similarly – this amount is many times higher than the market valuation of similar productions, which is interpreted as an attempt by Jeff Bezos to “buy” the administration's favor in the context of antitrust proceedings.

This situation calls into question the democratic legitimacy of state decisions. The scale of private wealth accumulation by a sitting president has no analogy in modern US history. Critics warn of the emergence of a “bidder culture” in which access to the president's ear and favorable regulatory decisions are directly correlated with investments in the Trump family's business portfolio. As a result, American taxpayers and global markets are faced with the question: whether the White House's decisions are dictated by the national interest or the current price of family tokens and progress on construction sites of foreign resorts.

Prepared by JM

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