A comprehensive investigation by Popular Information has found that President Donald Trump used the nation’s highest office to promote his family’s commercial interests 110 times in 16 months, a systematic pattern that accelerated as his administration simultaneously dismantled the independent watchdogs designed to hold the presidency to account.
The investigation scrutinised Trump’s Truth Social posts, on-camera public remarks, and official event locations since his second inauguration on 20 January 2025, identifying 59 commercial promotions on Truth Social, 30 in on-camera statements, and 21 official government events held at properties he personally owns.
Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, put it plainly in a statement on 22 December 2025: ‘Every other president since the Civil War has divested from business interests that would conflict with official duties. President Trump has done the opposite.’
110 Promotions in 16 Months: Golf, Events, and On-Camera Sales Pitches
The sheer volume of the promotion is striking. Across a 16-month window, the investigation found Trump averaged roughly seven business promotions per month through a combination of social media, official speeches, and the deliberate staging of government events at his own commercial properties. The examples are specific and on the record.
During a White House press conference alongside Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Trump delivered an extended endorsement of his Doonbeg golf resort in County Clare, noting it had been ‘chosen for the Irish Open, which is a big deal’ and describing it as ‘one of the best in the world.’
The Doonbeg moment was not exceptional. Trump launched the ‘Shield of the Americas,’ a new multilateral initiative bringing together Western Hemisphere countries to combat drug cartels, at Trump National Doral in Miami, turning a formal diplomatic event into a promotional occasion for his resort.
The investigation notes that even when Trump does not explicitly praise the venues, staging government events at his properties generates direct commercial and reputational value. The White House has consistently denied any wrongdoing. ‘The president is abiding by all conflict-of-interest laws that are applicable to the president,’ Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in May 2025.
The Trump Organisation told NBC Washington it is ‘fully compliant with all applicable ethics and conflicts of interest laws.’ Trump himself, in a separate interview with The New York Times, said of the conflict-of-interest question: ‘I found out that nobody cared, and I’m allowed to.’
The financial consequences for the Trump family have been significant. According to a PBS NewsHour report citing Forbes valuations, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. were each estimated to be worth £30-37 million ($40-50 million) before the 2024 election. A year into the second term, Forbes valued Eric at £296 million ($400 million) and Donald Trump Jr. at £222 million ($300 million). Neither is a government official, and neither is subject to federal ethics rules or disclosure requirements.
The $TRUMP Memecoin: Foreign Access, a Presidential Dinner, and a Paused SEC Lawsuit
Among the most scrutinised of Trump’s commercial ventures is the $TRUMP memecoin, launched on 17 January 2025, three days before his inauguration. Two Trump-controlled entities, CIC Digital LLC and Fight Fight Fight LLC, hold approximately 80 per cent of the tokens remaining after the initial coin offering.
In April 2025, a promotional website connected to the Trump family announced that the top 220 investors in the coin would be invited to a gala dinner with the president on 22 May 2025 at his golf club outside Washington DC, while the top 25 would receive a special VIP White House tour. The announcement caused the coin’s price to surge more than 60 per cent.
A congressional letter from Representatives Sean Casten and Adam Smith urging the Department of Justice to investigate potential violations of the federal bribery statute and the Foreign Emoluments Clause cited a Bloomberg analysis finding that 19 of the top 25 memecoin holders are likely foreign nationals.
Gage Skidmore/Flickr
The top spot was held by Justin Sun, a Chinese billionaire facing a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit alleging fraudulent market manipulation. That lawsuit was notably paused by the Trump administration after Sun invested £22.2 million ($30 million) in one of Trump’s other cryptocurrency ventures.
The Trump family and its partners earned more than £236.6 million ($320 million) in trading fees since the memecoin launched, according to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. A second memecoin conference was held at Mar-a-Lago in April 2026, with tickets again allocated to those with the highest coin holdings.
The Watchdog Purge: 17 Inspectors General, the OGE Director, and a Court’s Finding of Illegality
The promotions have unfolded in an environment that has been deliberately stripped of its oversight mechanisms. On 25 January 2025, the fifth day of his second term, Trump fired 17 agency inspectors general without explanation or the 30-day congressional notice required by the 1978 Inspector General Act.
In September 2025, District Judge Ana C. Reyes wrote that it was ‘obvious’ that Trump broke federal law in doing so, though she declined to order reinstatement. Inspector general offices subsequently lost 16.6 per cent of their workforce between January 2025 and early 2026, a steeper decline than the 12 per cent cut across the rest of the civil service in the same period.
On 10 February 2025, Trump removed David Huitema, the director of the Office of Government Ethics, the independent body responsible for overseeing ethics compliance across the entire executive branch. Huitema had been Senate-confirmed to a five-year term, a structure specifically designed to ensure the office spans administrations.
He told CNN he was given no explanation. ‘My sense is that the president doesn’t want OGE or really anyone with an independent voice to address concerns that are raised,’ Huitema said. Trump replaced him with Doug Collins, a Republican former congressman and sitting Veterans Affairs Secretary, an appointment that CREW and Project on Government Oversight both condemned as part of a deliberate strategy to eliminate independent oversight.
A president who fires the ethics watchdog, guts the inspector general corps, and then uses the Oval Office to pitch golf courses and memecoins is not operating outside the rules by accident; he is building a system in which no meaningful rules apply.