When President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House next year, he will build an even more expansive business empire and make far fewer promises about how to avoid conflicts of interest.
Trump was primarily a real estate developer during his first term, but has since expanded dramatically into new industries such as social media and cryptocurrencies. The presidency has only further raised Trump’s profile and drawn the lifelong salesman into more licensing deals. He has also grown a golf course in Scotland while putting his name on products ranging from NFTs to Bibles to a resort in Oman.
But Trump and his team have so far provided no details about how or if he will separate his business interests from his job as president.
In an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday, President Trump did not explicitly say he would exit his new social media company.
“Well, I don’t know how to sell it. What does that mean? I’m not allowed to open or use it? I mean, what I’m doing is , it’s just that we don’t see it publicly.” President Trump said. “I’m not even on the board of the company. I didn’t want to be on the board. I have other managers, and they’re running it, and they’re running it very well, because Truth is very platform. ”
He also said he would not receive a salary as president.
The spokesman will answer specific questions ahead of the interview, including how he will avoid conflicts of interest, whether he will continue to do foreign business and whether he will give the government preferential rates when the Secret Service stays on his premises. I refused.
“President Trump ran away from his multibillion-dollar real estate empire, deferred his government salary, and became the first president to actually lose his net worth while in the White House.” “President Trump is not in politics for profit. He is fighting because he loves the people of this country and wants to make America great again.” Caroline Leavitt told NBC News. Email.
But ethics experts, government watchdogs and Democrats have warned that Trump’s extensive business dealings pose an alarming conflict of interest for the presidency. His appointees will be held responsible for regulating his business, the tariffs he has promised could impact profit margins, and his foreign deals will be held in his name. This could affect the deals the company seeks overseas.
That’s why American presidents have historically placed their assets in blind trusts, separating their financial interests from their leadership responsibilities until they leave office.
“The scale has shifted. It used to be that there was one real way to benefit Trump, and that was to physically go to one of his properties and spend the money there,” said a government watchdog group in Washington. said Jordan Libowitz, vice president of communications for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics. “Now you have the opportunity to pour millions of dollars into his stocks and cryptocurrencies, and just write him a check directly.”
During his first administration, President Trump promised to hand over his empire to his sons, not engage in new foreign deals, and donate his presidential salary to taxpayers. The Trump Organization, the Trump family’s hotel, commercial and residential real estate, and golf club companies, donates profits from foreign reservations to the government and also has contracts with the Secret Service while protecting the president. announced that it would be discontinued.
Critics argued that these restrictions were too flimsy to protect against conflicts of interest and were not always followed.
But there are signs that in his second administration, President Trump plans to take on a role more involved in his business than he did in his first. The president-elect will travel to Scotland next year to open a new golf course in Aberdeen, his son Eric Trump announced two weeks after the election. Trump also continues to promote new products, including guitars, as he builds his next administration.
“The profiteering begins in earnest,” said Richard Painter, who served as President George W. Bush’s ethics lawyer and has been a vocal critic of President Trump and President Joe Biden’s alleged ethics violations.
This is Mr. Trump’s position as president to receive income from outside sources.
Hotels, golf clubs, real estate
Trump’s clubs and hotels experienced a surge in bookings, events and spending, influenced by lobbyists, Republican lawmakers, foreign governments and others seeking to curry favor with the then-president. According to CREW, 144 members of Congress and 150 foreign officials visited Trump’s businesses during the Trump administration, and 100 political events and 142 events sponsored by special interest groups were also held on his premises. That’s what it means.
Supporters and well-wishers also spent millions at hotels in Washington, D.C., and the Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. Particularly after President Trump left office, spending by Republican officials and organizations all but evaporated in D.C. hotels. President Trump sold the hotel in 2022.
According to an NBC News tracker, President Trump has visited his premises hundreds of times, conducted business his own way, and paid taxes while the government paid for space for the Secret Service to work and stay. It is said that he collected the taxes of people.
Eric Trump has said that Trump’s property would essentially free taxpayers from paying Secret Service accommodations, but the Secret Service paid $1,185 a night (while on duty) to protect the then-president. 5 times the Secret Service’s recommended rate). . Documents obtained and reviewed by CREW show that taxpayers spent at least $1.75 million in Secret Service costs at President Trump’s facilities during his administration.
Mr. Trump’s assets are likely to continue to attract political spending. For the past four years, Mar-a-Lago, where President Trump resides, has been a popular destination for allies to meet with Trump and hold fundraisers. And since the election, President Trump has invited potential government appointees and foreign leaders here.
Dive into cryptocurrencies
Just two months before his election, Trump announced his family’s cryptocurrency business, World Liberty Financial. The company aims to be a cryptocurrency bank that encourages customers to lend, borrow, and invest in digital coins, but currently only sells non-transferable tokens. The coin was launched in October, but sales were slow, bringing in just $12 million, well below the $300 million in tokens the platform had planned to sell.
President Trump announced that “virtual currency is the future,” and promoted the start of sales.
The future of the industry could largely depend on his presidency. Under the Biden administration, the industry is facing a Securities and Exchange Commission-led lawsuit that threatens to break up crypto companies that currently act as both exchanges and brokers for digital assets.
“If the SEC chairman essentially abandons this case and resigns, that would be a huge victory for the crypto exchanges,” said Hilary, a law professor at American University and an expert on financial regulation and emerging financial technologies. Mr. Allen said.
Paul Atkins, who was nominated by President Trump to head the SEC, is a supporter of cryptocurrencies, and the Trump administration is becoming more friendly to the fintech industry.
Following the election of President Trump, the value of Bitcoin skyrocketed, reaching over $100,000 on December 5th.
“Congratulations Bitcoiners!!! $100,000!!! You’re welcome!!! Together we will make America great again!” President Trump said on Truth Social.
“Even if he chooses not to aggressively pursue the industry, it would immediately benefit him and his crypto interests,” said the Campaign Legal Center Ethics Director, which is filing an ethics lawsuit against the congressman. Senior Director Kedrick Payne said.
In late November, Justin Sun, a cryptocurrency advocate and founder of crypto platform TRON, announced he would purchase $30 million in tokens from World Liberty Financial. While Sun’s investment will ensure the venture will benefit its president-elect, its affiliated LLC, DT Marks DEFI, will only be able to turn a profit once the company generates $30 million in sales. It will be.
Allen added that unlike Trump’s physical business, where profits are limited by physical limitations such as the number of hotel rooms, this business creates unlimited profit opportunities.
Cryptocurrency allows President Trump to create “assets out of nothing,” she said. “It really expands the possibilities here.”
Interest in media and technology
Half of Mr. Trump’s net worth is tied to shares in Trump Media and Technology Group, a publicly traded media company in which Mr. Trump owns a majority stake. The company owns Trump’s preferred social media network, Truth Social, where many of his own messages and ads for projects he supports are published. The company’s stock price has been volatile and seemingly unrelated to the company’s actual business, which has posted significant losses, but it has still doubled since the beginning of the year. And experts say the company poses a number of potential conflicts of interest.
The company is regulated by President Trump’s own appointees. It also acknowledges that there is an inseparable relationship between the president and his wealth.
“If President Donald J. Trump’s popularity declines, TMTG’s brand value may decline. Any negative impact on publicity related to President Donald J. Trump, or the loss of his services, could result in TMTG’s revenue, “Our results of operations and our ability to maintain or develop a consumer base may be adversely affected,” the company said in a regulatory filing in November.
The president has the power to fire and appoint members of the Federal Communications Commission, and Trump, the commission’s new leader, promised on social media to “crush the censorship cartel.”
The business also creates new potential avenues for those seeking to influence, benefit from, or exert precise influence over the next president through advertising on the platform or purchasing large amounts of stock. .
Mr. Libowitz hypothesized that President Trump’s net worth would increase if billionaires and foreign wealth funds bought up large numbers of stocks.
“They can inflate the stock price, but they can also threaten to sell all of their shares and skyrocket the value, destroying this net worth,” he said. “Here’s another nightmare scenario that presidents have had to deal with.”
Bible, guitar, cologne, etc.
According to financial disclosures, Mr. Trump made millions of dollars from licensing agreements that allowed him to use his name in branding and advertising for a wide range of products.
Since the November election, he has announced several new products. A Bible commemorating his survival from an assassination attempt in July, a guitar branded or signed by Trump, and most recently, cologne.
Mr. Painter, President Bush’s White House ethics lawyer, said such businesses were off-limits to past presidents.
“He didn’t even allow his name to be played in public schools in Texas, and I still remember that,” Painter said of the 43rd president. “We will never allow the Bush name to be used in branding to sell anything anywhere. The same rule applies to the Obama administration.”
Painter said that federal employees are specifically prohibited from using private offices in the public interest, but he was also quick to note that Trump is not the only president to ignore this rule. Mentioned.
After Biden resigned as vice president, his name was used to launch the Penn Biden Center at the University of Pennsylvania, which gave him a well-paying job. The center remained open after he took office, drawing criticism from Republicans for receiving donations from Chinese sources. Painter said he urged the Biden team to close the center.
President Trump pledged during his first administration not to engage in any foreign business dealings, but his transition team declined to say whether that provision would apply to his second term.
Since leaving office, Trump has pursued licensing deals with foreign countries. For example, in 2022, just as Trump announced his third presidential bid, he licensed his company’s name to a hotel in Oman.
An October 2024 report from an independent monitor appointed to oversee the Trump Organization’s financial disclosures following a civil fraud conviction found that the Trump Organization “does not license products or “We are creating 25 new organizations for the purpose of licensing agreements,” the agency said in a statement to watchdogs. ”
