Trump Earned 1.8 Trillion Won Last Year by Selling Cryptocurrency

[Financial News]  

It was confirmed on the 1st (local time) that U.S. President Donald Trump earned more than $1.16 billion, or about 1.8 trillion won, last year from cryptocurrency sales and meme coin royalties. The figure was disclosed in a financial report Trump submitted to the Office of Government Ethics (OGE).

Trump earned $526.8 million by selling cryptocurrency issued by World Liberty Financial, the crypto firm founded by his family. He also received $635 million in royalties from a licensing deal for the meme coin Celebration Coins.
Trump also still holds 15.75 billion World Liberty Financial coins. Despite last year's price slump, their value is estimated at about $900 million.
According to the disclosed documents, Trump still holds large amounts of other cryptocurrencies as well. He sold part of those holdings.
He made more than $33 million from selling World Liberty Financial Bitcoin and more than $150 million from selling Ethereum.

Unlike the Biden administration, which pressured and prosecuted the crypto industry, the Trump administration has actively supported it. That has only intensified conflict-of-interest concerns, as the president has also reaped huge profits in the process.
Trump moved to head off those concerns.
Speaking to reporters on the 1st, he said that 'large institutions' manage his investments and claimed, "I don't talk to them."
He added, "I benefit when the stock market goes up," and emphasized, "Everybody benefits."
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly also said flatly, "Neither the president nor any member of his family has any conflict of interest, and there never will be one."

Earlier, during his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump said he would make the United States the "Bitcoin superpower of the world."
World Liberty Financial was founded by his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., along with the sons of White House envoy Steve Witkoff.
After winning the election, Trump replaced Gary Gensler, the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with Paul Atkins, a supporter of the crypto industry. The SEC then dropped lawsuits against crypto companies such as Coinbase or closed cases through settlements. Coinbase has since donated money to Trump's inauguration and to the construction of the White House ballroom.

The latest financial disclosure also revealed donations from individual companies.
Meta Platforms donated $24.5 million to Trump's presidential library project, while Alphabet contributed $22 million to the National Mall Trust, which serves as a corporate donation channel for the construction of the White House East Wing ballroom. CBS and ABC each donated $16 million to Trump's library.
Trump also earned $4.7 million in royalties from Trump watches, $1.9 million in royalties from the book Save America, and $591,000 from the photo book Letters to Trump. In addition, he made $208,489 in royalties from the patriotic Bible by country singer Lee Greenwood, known as the Trump Bible, $67,634 from shoe and fragrance royalties, and $35,920 from other "45" merchandise. The "45" refers to Trump being the 45th president of the United States. He often uses the number 45 in his merchandise and branding.
He also received 10 FIFA World Cup tickets as a gift, which FIFA President Gianni Infantino said were worth $15,000.

Meanwhile, first lady Melania Trump also earned $16.7 million, or about 2.59 billion won, last year.
She received $10.7 million from her documentary Melania, which Amazon bought the rights to, and $6 million from sales of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

[email protected] Song Kyung-jae Reporter