A newly released federal disclosure report shows President Donald Trump pulled in nearly $1.2 billion through his cryptocurrency ventures last year — generating substantial personal profits even as many of his investors watched the value of their holdings drop sharply.
The businesses, which were just getting off the ground when Trump was inaugurated, have already generated more revenue than much of his sprawling real estate portfolio — assets he spent decades building. Their rapid growth was fueled by wealthy investors and by Trump’s own decision to roll back a federal crackdown on the crypto industry.
According to the required annual disclosure filed with the Office of Government Ethics, Trump’s World Liberty Financial operation brought in more than $500 million through the sale of new crypto products, including what are called “governance tokens.” A separate venture, CIC Digital LLC, generated more than $600 million from the sale of souvenir-style “meme” coins bearing Trump’s image. The value of both the tokens and the coins has fallen significantly since they were sold.
Beyond crypto, Trump also generated millions selling Trump-branded merchandise — including Bibles, sneakers, and watches. Sales of Trump-branded watches alone accounted for $4.7 million in revenue.
On Capitol Hill, House leadership made a surprise move Tuesday, scrapping scheduled votes and dismissing lawmakers early ahead of the holiday recess. Speaker Mike Johnson’s majority hit yet another wall, this time stalled by a rebellion within his own party. The dispute centers on the annual defense funding bill, which includes military pay raises. A faction of Republicans is demanding the legislation include the SAVE America Act — a strict voter ID measure backed by President Trump — before they will support it. The Senate similarly shut down last week following pressure from Trump.
The situation in Washington is being seen as a reflection of the shifting balance of power between a forceful executive branch and a Congress struggling to move its own agenda.
In other national developments, disability rights advocates are raising alarms over a series of recent federal actions they say threaten hard-won protections for Americans with disabilities. The Education Department announced it would transfer oversight of special education programs to the Department of Health and Human Services, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose past remarks about conditions like autism have drawn criticism from advocates and lawmakers alike.
Additionally, the Department of Justice issued new guidance that lowers the threshold for institutionalizing people with disabilities, a move that followed a White House push to address homelessness.
Selene Almazan, legal director for the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, described the actions in stark terms: “It’s a direct, frontal assault on the rights of people with disabilities to live their lives the way that people who are nondisabled live their lives. I can’t imagine that as a country, that would be something that we would agree we should go back to.”
In a separate legal matter, advice columnist E. Jean Carroll asked a Manhattan federal judge Tuesday to compel President Trump to hand over $5 million stemming from a 2023 civil jury verdict. That jury found Trump had sexually abused Carroll in the 1990s and defamed her after she publicly described the incident in 2019. Carroll’s attorneys say the total amount, with interest, has grown to nearly $5.8 million. They argue Trump is improperly attempting to delay releasing the funds, even after the Supreme Court declined Monday to take up his appeal of the verdict. Carroll testified at trial — which Trump did not attend — that the assault occurred in spring 1996 in the dressing room of a luxury department store in midtown Manhattan.
President Trump is scheduled to travel to North Dakota on Wednesday to tour the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, a 96,000-square-foot facility built at a cost of $450 million. The library, which officially opens on July 4th as part of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations, explores the life of the 26th president — including his time ranching and hunting in the region during the 1880s. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum championed the project during his time as governor of North Dakota. All living presidents were invited to the grand opening.
Finally, the White House has tapped a Harvard astronomer known for his unconventional theories about extraterrestrial life to head a new scientific advisory council examining national security risks posed by unidentified anomalous phenomena, commonly referred to as UAPs or UFOs. Avi Loeb, a cosmologist who previously led Harvard’s astronomy department until 2020, will lead the team, which reports to a new White House panel on the issue. Loeb has spent the past decade searching for signs of intelligent alien life, and gained widespread attention in 2017 when he suggested an interstellar object passing Earth could be a “light sail” from an alien spacecraft.
