What happened
The $TRUMP coin launched on 17 January 2025, days before Trump's inauguration. Of the one billion coins created, 800 million remained held by two Trump-owned companies rather than being sold publicly. The coin's price spiked over 300% in its first day, briefly making it the 19th most valuable cryptocurrency in the world with nearly $13 billion in trading volume — activity that generated substantial trading fees for the Trump-controlled entities holding the bulk of the supply.
The New York Times commissioned a forensic blockchain analysis that found the coin's actual trading activity produced a stark redistribution: more than 813,000 individual wallets collectively lost approximately $2 billion trading the coin, while Trump's companies and business partners collected roughly $100 million in fees generated by that same trading activity. In other words, the sitting president's personal companies profited directly and substantially from a speculative asset bearing his name and political brand, while ordinary retail traders — many likely drawn in specifically because of the presidential association — absorbed the losses.
Separately, a stablecoin venture linked to the Trump family, World Liberty Financial, entered into a deal connected to MGX, an investment vehicle closely tied to the government of the United Arab Emirates. Because MGX's ownership traces directly to a foreign government, payments flowing through this structure to a Trump-linked entity raised direct concern under the US Constitution's Foreign Emoluments Clause, which prohibits federal officials from accepting benefits from foreign governments without congressional consent. A November 2025 House Judiciary Committee minority report concluded the Trump family had "transformed the presidency into a personal money-making operation."