A new Reuters investigation reveals a scale of presidential enrichment unseen in modern U.S. history. Published Tuesday, a special report titled “Inside the Trump family’s global crypto cash machine” shows that the Trump family’s fortune surged in 2025. The summary reads:
The U.S. president’s family raked in more than $800 million from sales of crypto assets in the first half of 2025 alone, a Reuters examination found, on top of potentially billions more in unrealized “on paper” gains. Much of that cash has come from foreign sources as Donald Trump’s sons have touted their business on an international investor roadshow.
When President Trump’s term ends, he is expected to regain full control of a business empire now swollen with foreign capital and turbocharged by a crypto market shaped by his own administration’s policies.
The findings draw on official disclosures, property and court records, crypto trade information, and interviews. They outline a complex network of token sales, offshore investors, and regulatory changes that together fueled the company’s explosive growth. Reuters described the arrangement as “legal, but not ethical.”
Reacting to the report, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) struck a relaxed tone:
As long as [the president] disclose[s] the income and sources, I think that’s acceptable.
But the story Reuters pieced together suggests something deeper — a presidency and a family fortune advancing in parallel, powered by the same crypto engine.
The Dubai Pitch
The money trail begins in Dubai. In May, Eric Trump met with Chinese businessman Guren “Bobby” Zhou and others on the sidelines of a cryptocurrency conference, pitching World Liberty Financial, Inc. (WLFI), the family’s crypto business.
Buy at least $20 million of “governance tokens,” he said, and join a venture that would “embody the future of finance.” The technology behind the project appeared “rudimentary,” one attendee told the outlet. Yet, within weeks, Aqua1 Foundation, a state-linked Abu Dhabi investment group, announced a $100 million purchase — the largest known buy of WLFI tokens.
Reuters identified Zhou as being under investigation by Britain’s National Crime Agency for money laundering. He has also been linked to multiple money-laundering probes and civil court judgments in China. Aqua Labs Investment LLC, an affiliate of Aqua1, confirmed the deal as a “commercial decision consistent with advancing regulated digital-asset ecosystems.”
The Windfall
Dubai was only one stop on the Trump brothers’ investment tour. Reuters wrote:
In Europe, the Middle East and Asia, they have been promoting World Liberty and other ventures that funnel investors’ cash to Trump family businesses, known collectively as the Trump Organization.
The results were staggering. In the first half of 2025, Trump Organization income soared to $864 million, up from $51 million a year earlier. Over 90 percent came from crypto ventures, including token sales through WLFI.
Traditional businesses paled by comparison: golf clubs and resorts brought in $33 million, while name-licensing added $23 million. More than half of total income — about $463 million — came from sales of the family’s $USD1 tokens, including as much as $75 million from Aqua1 Foundation alone. WLFI’s website confirms that a Trump entity receives 75 percent of all token-sale revenue.
Hellbound and Down 