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New financial disclosures by President Donald Trump show that he made more than $1.4 billion from his family’s various cryptocurrency ventures last year, reaping a windfall after pulling back on regulation of the industry and promoting the United States as “the crypto capital of the world.” Other Trump businesses, like his resorts and golf courses, have also flourished since his return to the White House, while the Trump Organization has also licensed the family name to properties in countries that are crucial to U.S. foreign policy interests, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

“It’s been an incredibly successful period for the Trump family,” says Reuters investigative reporter Tom Bergin.

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: We begin today’s show with the stunning windfall President Trump has made during his first year back in the White House. New filings show that Trump made more than $2.2 billion last year, most of it fueled by cryptocurrency profits, but with a significant rise in profits across his real estate business and other family investments, and his legal settlements with media giants like ABC News, Paramount and Meta. The mandatory financial disclosure report released Tuesday shows Trump made at least $1.4 billion from his family’s cryptocurrency ventures. That includes $635 million for Trump-branded cryptocurrency meme coins and $590 million from the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial crypto business.

AMY GOODMAN: Meanwhile, roughly two-thirds of investors in the president’s meme coin have reportedly lost money as he made a fortune. As the backlash grows over Trump’s windfall profits, including criticism from The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and Fox News, specifically Trump’s defenders usually, Trump defended how he’s profited from the presidency, while speaking to reporters Wednesday

New Billionaire Jared Kushner Is Mired in Conflicts of Interest as “Peace Envoy”

REPORTER: To critics who say you’re profiting off the presidency, Mr. President? PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, you know why I’m profiting? Because the stock market is going up. Everybody’s profiting. If you have a — you have a 401(k)? How has your 401(k) done? It’s about up 85%. Thank you, President Trump.

REPORTER: To critics who say you’re profiting off the presidency, Mr. President?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, you know why I’m profiting? Because the stock market is going up. Everybody’s profiting. If you have a — you have a 401(k)? How has your 401(k) done? It’s about up 85%. Thank you, President Trump.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: President Trump was speaking to reporters before boarding the new Air Force One, a Boeing 747 jet donated to him by the Qatari royal family, reportedly at a cost of $400 million. Trump plans to keep the jet after leaving office, saying he’ll donate it to his presidential library. Democrats have accused him of receiving a foreign emolument — or bribe — which is prohibited under the Constitution.

While the bulk of President Trump’s profits in 2025 were driven by cryptocurrency, he also earned another $575 million from his real estate holdings. That includes over $200 million from Trump National Doral and Mar-a-Lago, as well as earnings from licensing deals overseas, including in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, countries vital to U.S. foreign policy interests.

AMY GOODMAN: Growing concerns over the president’s conflicts of interest come as a new report from MS NOW finds the president’s two eldest sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., are linked to investments in at least 10 military companies that have drawn about $3.7 billion in federal funds since the start of the second Trump administration. Meanwhile, President Trump’s sons and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stand to see a big windfall after businesses tied to the families helped secure a $1.6 billion mining deal in Kazakhstan, according to a report in The New York Times.

For more on all of this, we’re joined in London by Reuters investigative journalist Tom Bergin. He’s the author of the book Free Lunch Thinking: How Economics Ruins the Economy. His most recent investigative piece is headlined “Parsing the Trumps’ crypto profits, investors’ losses.”

Welcome to Democracy Now!, Tom. Why don’t you parse it out for us? And especially for people who don’t understand the whole crypto issue, explain what it is and how this family, the Trump family, and his allies have profited so much.

TOM BERGIN: Thank you, Amy. It’s good to be on the show.

The first thing I’d say is that the comments from the president aren’t really accurate insofar as that he says that he has made money because the stock market has gone up. None of the gains which we reported upon, as others have, that are contained in these documents refer to gains from selling stocks or bonds. This is all entirely money that is cash that has come into the accounts of his businesses from the operating businesses. And as........

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