Trump's growing wealth in office raises global anti-corruption fears

A 927-page financial disclosure showed about $635 million in royalties from Celebration Coins and more than $500 million from World Liberty Financial, adding fresh weight to concerns that Donald Trump is profiting from the presidency on a scale no modern president matched. BBC said Trump made at least $2.2 billion in his first year back in the White House, including more than $1.4 billion from cryptocurrency.

The numbers revive an argument Trump confronted before he first took office. In 2016, BBC described his extensive international business holdings as a source of potential conflicts of interest if presidential decisions affected his businesses. Trump said he would leave his business "in total" to focus on the presidency. The contrast with earlier presidents is stark: Harry Truman left the White House with only an Army pension of $113 a month, while George W. Bush said he had no idea how the 2008 financial crisis affected his net worth after putting investments in a blind trust.

The foreign-money question has remained central. In January 2024, House Oversight Democrats said documents from Mazars USA showed Trump and his businesses pocketed millions from at least 20 foreign governments while he was president. The committee also said Trump businesses received at least $7.8 million in foreign payments. The District of Columbia Office of the Attorney General pursued an emoluments lawsuit tied to those payments, while Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said at least 19 Trump administration actions may benefit Trump finances.

Policy choices in Trump’s second term have widened the concern beyond hotels and brand licensing. In February 2025, Trump issued an executive order pausing most Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement for 180 days. Harvard Law experts later said Trump’s tariffs and the FCPA pause scrambled the global economic system, calling the disruption "probably the largest shock since the 1970s." Arnold & Porter said the pause was effectively lifted in June 2025, when the Justice Department issued new enforcement guidelines.

That backdrop matters for U.S. credibility abroad. Transparency International said more than two-thirds of the 180 countries and territories in its Corruption Perceptions Index scored below 50, leaving little margin for the United States to weaken its own anti-bribery stance while its president is tied to fast-growing private revenue streams, including crypto ventures linked to World Liberty Financial, Celebration Coins and other Trump-linked businesses.