President Donald Trump’s jaunt to Scotland, where he met the U.K. prime minister and cut a ribbon for a new Trump golf course, highlighted his love for old-money ambiance and mixing personal with official business.
The traditional business ventures like golf courses that go with this lifestyle, however, now make up less than half of Trump’s wealth compared to crypto, according to a new analysis from the left-leaning watchdog group Accountable.US.
“Trump pushed bills to make it easier to pad his net worth by billions through dubious crypto schemes.”
Nearly 73 percent of Trump’s wealth — $11.6 billion of an estimated $15.9 billion — comes from crypto holdings that he built at record pace by misusing his office, the group claims in an analysis made public Thursday. The group’s president slammed Trump in a prepared statement.
“Soon after signing his ‘Big Ugly’ law that rips away health care and food security from millions of American working people and seniors, President Trump pushed bills to make it easier to pad his net worth by billions through dubious crypto schemes,” Caroline Ciccone, the head of Accountable, said. “The more the President’s wealth depends on anonymous investors around the world with hidden agendas, the greater the risk to the interests of everyday Americans and our national security.”
The Accountable analysis is the latest attempt to pierce the corporate veil of the Trump family’s opaque network of companies. Well before digital tokens became moneymakers, Trump’s worth was notoriously hard to pin down, at one point spawning a failed libel lawsuit from the real estate mogul. The speculative nature of crypto has made it even harder.
Last month, Bloomberg estimated that roughly $620 million, of what an estimated total net worth of $6.4 billion, could be chalked up to crypto.
Accountable argued in its latest analysis that Bloomberg undercounted both Trump’s crypto and total wealth, thanks largely to the wildly speculative nature of crypto.
Meme coins like the $TRUMP token, and other more ostensibly stable crypto assets such as tokens tied to the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial crypto venture, can change wildly in nominal value from day to day.
Accountable’s analysis included the total $7 billion value of $TRUMP meme coins that will eventually vest but cannot be sold for hard cash just yet, along with a recent spike in the value of World Liberty Financial governance tokens to $2 billion — thanks to a decision that they will become tradeable in the coming months.
The nonprofit group was careful to note that these represented a high-end value for Trump’s crypto holdings, since the structures of the relevant crypto companies make it difficult to tell how much he personally owns.
Whatever the true number, critics such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., say that Trump’s crypto industry boosterism has been deeply corrupt because it personally benefits him.
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Trump has made aggressive moves to cut down on crypto regulations at agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and to pass legislation such as the “stablecoin” law he recently signed. He also recently hosted a reception for holders of his meme coin that included many foreign investors.
The White House dismissed such criticisms in a statement.
“The media’s continued attempts to fabricate conflicts of interest are irresponsible and reinforce the public’s distrust in what they read,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “Neither the President nor his family have ever engaged, or will ever engage, in conflicts of interest. Through executive actions, supporting legislation like the GENIUS Act, and other common-sense policies, the administration is fulfilling the President’s promise to make the United States the crypto capital of the world by driving innovation and economic opportunity for all Americans.”
