Donald Trump made $1.4bn (approximately £1bn) from his cryptocurrency dealings in his first year back in office, in what his former White House lawyer has described as part of “the greatest onslaught of corruption in the history of mankind.”

Overall, Trump pulled in at least $2.2bn (£1.65bn) from his vast holdings, including real estate assets, in 2025. By comparison, his enterprises pulled in $662m (£495m) in 2024 before he returned to the presidency. 

The US president – who denies any wrongdoing – received around $500m (£374m) from $WLFI, the digital currency sold by his family’s main crypto firm World Liberty Financial (WLF).

Trump also got a windfall from his $TRUMP meme coin, which was launched three days before his inauguration and earned him more than $600m (£449m).

The coin was dismissed as a ‘pump-and-dump scheme’ by analysts and led to hundreds of thousands of mostly small investors losing money.  

The figures were released as part of Trump’s 927-page mandatory financial report for 2025.

An additional $500m (£374m) deal – struck days before his second inauguration in January 2025 – to sell 49% of WLF to representatives of a high-ranking Emirati royal has invited accusations of corruption. 

The deal saw $187m (£140m) of the initial payment steered to entities controlled by the Trump family, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

Months later, the UAE got the green light to import 500,000 Nvidia AI chips, despite concerns from US security officials.

Former White House lawyer Ty Cobb, who was part of the Trump administration’s legal team between 2017 and 2018, accused the president of violating parts of the constitution designed to prevent federal officials from engaging in corruption or being unduly influenced by foreign powers. 

“Several hundred million dollars related to those coins,” Cobb told CNN. “How can that be anything other than trading on his image and likeness in violation of the emoluments clause?”

He added: “We are seeing the greatest onslaught of corruption in the history of mankind in the last 18 months.” 

The White House has called the accusation “bogus and irrelevant”. Trump denied that he was profiting from the presidency, adding: “We have funds that run my money.”

“He got richer,” California’s governor Gavin Newsom posted on X. “His crypto supporters got rug-pulled.”

Lee Reiners, a former Federal Reserve Bank examiner who now specialises in cryptocurrency, told the New York Times: “It is hard to wrap your head around that the president of the United States would engage in this level of self-enrichment at the expense of so many of his supporters.”  

He added: “This is a president of the United States who has made more money off crypto since he took office than he made in any prior year in his entire business career.”

Limited July Schedule Raises Urgency for Floor Vote

Efforts to pass a federal crypto market-structure bill have entered a critical phase as the Senate remains in recess until July 13. The advocacy group Stand With Crypto on July 1 urged supporters to contact Senators and push for a floor vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, or CLARITY Act, before lawmakers leave for the August recess.

The timeline leaves a narrow window for action following months of committee work and industry lobbying. Supporters say the bill would reduce regulatory uncertainty by establishing clearer federal rules for digital asset issuers, trading platforms, developers, and market participants.

“The Senate is in recess. The clock on Clarity is running,” Stand With Crypto noted on X, adding:

“The window before the August recess is short, and when Senators return on July 13, they can vote on the Clarity Act to end years of regulatory guesswork. Don’t let the window close. Call your Senators to schedule a vote on Clarity.”

The legislation advanced in June when the Senate Banking Committee approved H.R. 3633 in a bipartisan 15-9 vote. The bill outlines agency oversight, registration pathways for crypto firms, consumer protections, and compliance standards across digital asset markets.

Lawmakers return to Washington on July 13 after the Independence Day recess, leaving Congress with just eight legislative business days before the planned August recess. The compressed schedule gives lawmakers limited time to consider the CLARITY Act alongside annual defense and government funding legislation.

Industry Groups Increase Pressure on Senate Leadership

Industry advocacy has intensified as the legislative calendar tightens ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. More than 200 organizations, including Coinbase, Ripple, Kraken, Circle, Binance.US, Uniswap Labs, Paradigm, Andreessen Horowitz, and Stand With Crypto chapters, have urged Senate leaders to bring the bill to the floor.

Mason Lynaugh, policy director at Stand With Crypto, said:

“There’s a limited window to get this done, with few remaining days left in the current Congress before the midterm elections. If Senate leaders don’t schedule a CLARITY Act vote in the coming weeks, an enormous amount of bipartisan work, compromise, and progress, could be wasted.”

Ripple has also promoted the effort in Washington, D.C., including a branded CLARITY truck near Capitol Hill to raise visibility as lawmakers consider crypto legislation.

Stand With Crypto cited polling showing nearly three-quarters of surveyed crypto owners in Senate battleground states are more likely to support candidates who favor clearer cryptocurrency rules. The group also reported that more than one-third of respondents use digital assets for personal transfers, while 21% use them for monthly expenses.

Despite the momentum, analysts remain cautious. Galaxy Research lowered its 2026 passage estimate for the CLARITY Act to 50-50 from 60%, citing the absence of a scheduled Senate floor vote, no motion to proceed, and no unified text between Senate committees.

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Today’s top stories

President Trump’s financial disclosures reveal that he and his family earned more than $1 billion through cryptocurrency ventures and other businesses last year, according to a 927-page report filed with the Office of Government Ethics. The report shows that more than $500 million came from the cryptocurrency venture “World Liberty Financial,” which was co-founded by Trump family members. The sale of souvenir “meme” coins featuring Trump’s image generated more than $600 million. Other income included more than $50 million from settlements with media companies and millions in profits from Trump-branded products like Bibles, sneakers and watches. These earnings, which have outpaced his real estate business, have sparked concerns about potential conflicts of interest. The White House released a statement denying any conflicts of interest, and spokesperson Anna Kelly applauded Trump for making the U.S. “the crypto capital of the world.”

• 🎧 Democrats have had a lot to say regarding the president’s earnings, NPR’s Linda Kenyon tells Up First. Sen. Adam Schiff of California suggested Trump has earned more money in the first year of his current term than in the rest of his life combined. Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado referred to the president’s cryptocurrency earnings as another example of what he described as “grift and corruption.” Crow also highlighted that the president took his first flight yesterday on a brand-new Air Force One, a gift from a foreign government valued at roughly $400 million.

The Vatican this morning formalized the excommunications of the bishops and priests of the conservative group known as the Society of St. Pius X, declaring that it has entered schism and broken communion with the pope and the Catholic Church. The group, known as SSPX, celebrates the traditional Latin Mass and opposes some modern church reforms. In the Catholic Church, the appointment of new bishops is the responsibility of the pope. But yesterday, the group defied Pope Leo XIV by consecrating four bishops without his approval. The Society framed its actions as a defense of Catholic tradition. During the ceremony, the Rev. Davide Pagliarani, head of the Society of St. Pius X, described the consecrations as an act of service rather than rebellion. Two of the excommunicated men teach in the U.S., where the group’s membership has been growing, according to the society.

A little over a week has passed since rare double earthquakes struck Venezuela. Thousands of people are feared dead as the official death toll continues to rise and hope diminishes for finding survivors in the rubble. Yesterday, the number of people killed by the quakes reached 2,295, and more than 11,200 people were injured, said Jorge Rodríguez, the president of Venezuela’s National Assembly. Tens of thousands of people remain unaccounted for. The number of people left homeless could be staggering. An analysis of satellite data by Corey Scher and Jamon Van Den Hoek from Oregon State University estimated that 58,870 buildings were likely damaged or destroyed by the earthquakes. The U.N.’s International Organization for Migration has reported that up to 6.8 million people could be affected by the disaster, needing shelter, water, sanitation, healthcare and other relief items. Here are the most significant developments since the tragedy occurred.