Trump family business profits tied to real estate, crypto, and media renew questions about conflicts of interest and political power
Business ventures launched by the Trump family since Donald Trump’s reelection have generated at least $4 billion in proceeds and paper wealth, according to public disclosures and securities filings. The investments span real estate, hospitality, media, cryptocurrency, and other sectors, reflecting what one reporter describes as a growing entanglement between the family’s business interests and the broader U.S. economy.
“The Trump family is increasingly integrating its business empire into the wider economy,” said David Uberti, a Wall Street Journal reporter who has covered the family’s financial activities. That convergence of economic and political power, he said, is raising significant questions about potential conflicts of interest. “You have all of these different business interests in areas that the government regulates,” Uberti said, adding that “proximity to power may help along some of these deals and the valuations at which they’re made.”
Among the ventures drawing scrutiny are the family’s cryptocurrency project, World Liberty Financial, and a planned $6 billion merger involving the Trump Organization and a company seeking to build a nuclear fusion plant to power artificial intelligence data centers. Uberti described such projects as “very speculative, highly risky corners of financial markets,” which he said have become a key part of the family’s investment strategy.
The $4 billion figure, Uberti noted, represents proceeds and paper gains tied solely to businesses launched since Trump returned to office and may be a conservative estimate. “This is only what has been made public,” he said, citing federal financial disclosures and securities filings by the president and members of his family. While some ventures fall within the family’s traditional real estate, golf, and hotel businesses, newer investments increasingly include cryptocurrency and branded merchandise.
Trump has long argued that his business background qualified him to run the federal government more efficiently. But his decision not to fully divest from his assets, as previous presidents have done, has renewed concerns about conflicts of interest. With business holdings across multiple regulated industries, critics warn that the overlap between Trump’s political authority and his family’s commercial ambitions presents ongoing ethical and governance challenges.
