Donald Trump, the president-elect, will return to the White House next year with a much larger economic empire and fewer pledges to avoid conflicts of interest.
During his first term, Trump focused mostly on real estate development, but he has since made significant forays into other fields like social media and cryptocurrency. Trump is a lifetime salesman, and the presidency has only increased his reputation and attracted more licensing agreements.In addition, he has expanded his golf courses in Scotland and branded everything from Bibles to NFTs to an Oman resort.
However, neither Trump nor his campaign have yet to clarify whether or how he plans to keep his commercial ventures apart from his presidential duties.
Trump refused to declare that he will sell his new social media business in an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that aired on Sunday.
“Well, I’m not sure how to divest. What does that signify? Am I not permitted to open and utilize it? Trump stated, “I mean, all I do is I don’t openly look at the company.” “I don’t even sit on the company’s board. I had no desire to serve on the board. Truth has become a very, very popular platform, therefore I have other people that operate it, and they do it really effectively.”
In addition, he said that he would not take a salary while president.
A spokesperson refused to respond to specific questions prior to the interview, such as how he would prevent conflicts of interest, if he would continue to make business abroad, or whether he would provide the government a special rate when the Secret Service stays at his facilities.
In order to run for office, President Trump gave up his multibillion-dollar real estate business and his government income, making him the first president to actually lose wealth while in office. Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Trump transition team, told NBC News via email that President Trump did not enter politics for financial gain, but rather because he loves the American people and wants to restore America’s greatness.
However, Democrats, government watchdogs, and ethics experts caution that Trump’s extensive business network presents potential conflicts of interest for his presidency. His planned tariffs could impact his profit margins, his dealings with foreign nations could impact the transactions his eponymous company seeks abroad, and his appointees will be tasked with supervising his businesses.
For this reason, until they leave office, American presidents have traditionally placed their assets in blind trusts, isolating their financial interests from their leadership duties.
The scale is now different. Jordan Libowitz, vice president for communications at the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, stated that there used to be just one legitimate way to help Trump, and that was to physically visit one of his properties and spend money there. You can now invest millions of dollars in his cryptocurrency and stock, or you can just send him a check.
During his first term in office, Trump pledged to give his sons control of his empire, refrain from entering into any new international agreements, and return his income to the taxpayers. In addition to cutting the Secret Service a bargain while protecting the president, the Trump Organization, the Trump family business that owns hotels, commercial and residential real estate, and golf clubs, announced that it will return the government’s earnings from foreign government reservations.
These limitations, according to critics, were not always adhered to and were too weak to guard against conflicts of interest.
However, there are signs that Trump intends to be more involved in his enterprises during his second term than he was during his first. Two weeks after the election, his son Eric Trump announced that the president-elect would be visiting Scotland to build a new golf club in Aberdeen the following year. Trump has also persisted in promoting new goods, such as guitars, as he prepares for his upcoming presidency.
Richard Painter, the ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush and a strong opponent of Donald Trump and Joe Biden for potential ethics transgressions, said it’s open season on the profiteering.
Here are some opportunities for Trump to earn extra money as president.
Hotels, golf clubs and real estate
With the help of lobbyists, Republican lawmakers, foreign governments, and others hoping to gain favor with the then-president, Trump’s clubs and hotels saw a spike in reservations, events, and spending.During Trump’s administration, 144 members of Congress and 150 foreign officials visited a Trump property, while his properties hosted 142 special interest group events and 100 political events, according to CREW.
Favor-seekers and supporters also spent a lot of money at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and hotel in Washington, D.C. After Trump departed office, Republican leaders’ and organizations’ spending at the hotel in D.C. in particular essentially stopped. In 2022, Trump sold the hotel.
According to NBC News tracking, Trump personally steered commerce his way when he visited his own properties hundreds of times, piling up taxpayer funds while the government paid for the Secret Service’s workspace and accommodations.
In order to safeguard the then-president, the Secret Service paid up to $1,185 per night, five times the normal cost, even though Eric Trump had claimed that the Trump hotels would provide taxpayers with basically free rooms. According to all of the documentation that CREW was able to obtain and examine, taxpayers paid at least $1.75 million for Secret Service expenses at Trump properties while he was president.
Going forward, political spending is probably going to continue to be drawn to Trump’s assets. Over the past four years, Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago has been a popular place for allies to meet with him and hold fundraisers. Additionally, Trump has hosted foreign leaders and possible cabinet officials there since the election.
Diving into cryptocurrency
Trump revealed his family’s cryptocurrency company, World Liberty Financial, just two months prior to his election. Although it only sells nontransferable tokens at the moment, the company wants to become a crypto bank where clients are encouraged to borrow, lend, and invest in digital currencies. Sales of the coins, which were launched in October, were slow, totaling only $12 million, far less than the $300 million in tokens the site claimed to be trying to sell.
Prouding the start of sales, Trump declared that cryptocurrency was the way of the future.
His presidency could have a significant impact on the industry’s destiny. The Securities and Exchange Commission has been leading the industry’s litigation under the Biden administration, which could dismantle cryptocurrency companies that currently serve as both an exchange and a broker for digital assets.
Hilary Allen, a law professor at American University and an authority on financial regulation and emerging financial technology, stated that the cryptocurrency exchanges would have a significant victory if the SEC chair essentially resigns and stops this lawsuit.
Paul Atkins, Trump’s choice to lead the SEC, is an advocate of cryptocurrencies, and his administration appears to be supportive of the fintech sector.
After Trump was elected, the value of bitcoin skyrocketed, reaching $100,000 on December 5.
BRAVO TO ALL BITCOINERS! One hundred thousand dollars! YOU’RE WELCOME! Let’s work together to restore America’s greatness! Trump stated on Truth Social.
According to Kedric Payne, senior director for ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, which has brought ethics complaints against lawmakers, even the appearance that he won’t pursue the industry vigorously will immediately help him and his cryptocurrency interest.
Justin Sun, a cryptocurrency advocate and the creator of the platform TRON, declared in late November that he would buy $30 million worth of tokens from World Liberty Financial. Sun’s financing will guarantee the venture’s success. The next president’s affiliated LLC, DT Marks DEFI, won’t start making money until the business has generated $30 million in sales.
Unlike Trump’s physical enterprises, which have physical restrictions like the amount of hotel rooms restricting revenues, Allen continued, this partnership presents a chance for endless profits.
She claimed that Trump can generate assets out of thin air thanks to cryptocurrency. In actuality, it merely increases the potential here.
Media and technology interests
Trump owns a majority position in Trump Media and Technology Group, a publicly traded media company, which accounts for half of his net wealth. The business controls Truth Social, Trump’s favorite social media platform, where a large portion of his own content and ads for projects he supports are posted. The price of the stock is erratic and appears to be unrelated to the company’s real operations, which have experienced large losses but have doubled so far this year. The business also presents a variety of possible conflicts of interest, according to analysts.
Trump’s own appointees regulate the business. It, too, acknowledges the inextricable connection between the president and its fortunes.
If President Donald J. Trump’s popularity declines, TMTG’s brand value could also decline. Adverse reactions to publicity relating to President Donald J. Trump, or the loss of his services, could adversely affect TMTG s revenues, results of operations and its ability to maintain or generate a consumer base, the company wrote in a regulatoryfilingin November.
The president has the power to fire and appoint commissioners to the Federal Communications Commission, and Trump s new pick to run the agency has promised to smash the censorship cartel on social media.
The business also creates new potential avenues for people seeking to influence, benefit or exact leverage over the president-elect through the purchase of advertisements on the platform or significant shares of stock.
If a billionaire or foreign wealth fund were to buy up a ton of stock, they d raise Trump s net worth, Libowitz hypothesized.
They could inflate it, but then they could also threaten to sell all of that stock at the same time, cratering the value and destroying this net worth, he said. Here is a new nightmare scenario that no previous president has had to deal with.
Bibles, guitars, cologne and more
According to his financial disclosures, Trump has been making millions on licensing deals for the use of his name in branding and advertisement for a wide range of products.
Since the November election, he s rolled out several new products: Bibles commemorating his survival of a July assassination attempt, Trump-branded or -signed guitars, and most recently a cologne.
Painter, the White House ethics lawyer for Bush, said such ventures were off-limits for previous presidents.
We wouldn t even let his name go on a public school in Texas I still remember that, Painter said of the 43rd president. Never would we let Bush s name be used for branding to sell anything, anywhere. Same rule in the Obama administration.
Using a private office for public gain is specifically prohibited for federal employees, Painter said, but he was quick to note that Trump isn t the only president ignoring this rule.
Biden s name was used to launch thePenn Biden Centerat the University of Pennsylvania after he left the vice presidency, and the university gave Biden a lucrative job. The center was kept open even after he became president, earningcriticismfrom Republicans about the donations it received from Chinese sources. Painter said he urged the Biden team to shutter the center.
While Trump pledged not to engage in any foreign business deals during his first administration, his transition team declined to say if that rule will apply to his second term.
Out of office, Trump has pursued foreign licensing deals. In 2022, for instance, Trumplicensed his company s name to an Oman hotel, just as he was announcing a third presidential bid.
According to an October 2024 report from anindependent monitorappointed to oversee the Trump Organization s financial disclosures following a civil fraud ruling, the organization had informed the monitor it was creating 25 new entities for the purpose of either licensing products or merchandise and hotel licensing deals.
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