US President Donald Trump released a lengthy financial disclosure form on Tuesday (US time), confirming that he earned more than $1 billion from his cryptocurrency ventures. The major asset driving this massive boost in his total crypto holdings was “meme” coins that bore his name last year.
Revelations come months after POTUS complained at a public event in Rome that he got “no credit” for “waiving” his annual presidential pay package of $400,000.
“I waived it. I’m the only president that ever waived it,” he said. “We’ve had wealthy presidents before. In the history of our country, there’s never been a president that waived his salary. I’m the only schmuck. I get no credit for it.”
Crypto has long been positioned as one of the Trump White House‘s flagship agendas. During the first year of his second presidency, the Republican leader’s total crypto income totaled some $1.4 billion.
How crypto boosted Trump’s earnings in 2025
As disclosed to the US Office of Government Ethics in a 927-page document, the numbers from 2025, the first year of Trump’s second term, showed that from over $1 billion in earnings, $636 million came from CIC Digital LLC, an affiliate of the Trump Organization.
The majority of these figures, $635 million, is associated with a licensing agreement with a crypto group called “Celebration Coins,” specialising in “meme” coins. Despite lacking any digital footprint, the group is believed to be responsible for the sale of the POTUS’ $TRUMP meme coin.
As these meme-coin earnings made up a massive chunk of Trump’s holdings, $236 million was tied to additional cryptocurrency token sales. Moreover, a sale of equity worth more than $65 million linked to the Trump family’s crypto venture World Liberty Financial expanded the money pool further. Beyond that, the disclosure mentioned more than $290 million classified as income from crypto wallets tied to World Liberty.
Trump has repeatedly faced criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike over alleged conflicts of interest.
A White House representative has since issued a statement, saying, “Neither the President nor his family has ever engaged, or will ever engage, in conflicts of interest,” as quoted by NBC News.
“President Trump proudly made the United States the crypto capital of the world through executive actions, supporting legislation like the GENIUS Act, and other commonsense policies to drive innovation and economic opportunity for all Americans.”
Similarly, a representative for Trump’s business firm said in a statement, “This disclosure once again demonstrates that The Trump Organization continues to maintain a strong financial position, supported by world class, valuable assets, substantial liquidity and a conservative balance sheet,” adding that the disclosure’s length “underscores our commitment to transparency.”
“At nearly 1,000 pages, it represents one of the most comprehensive financial disclosure reports ever submitted and demonstrates a level of financial transparency unmatched in presidential history.”
As opposed to Trump’s nearly 1,000-page document, former Presidents Barack Obama’s and Joe Biden’s final disclosure forms were eight pages and 11 pages, respectively.
Other finances listed in Trump’s disclosure form
Additional disclosures in the form highlighted Trump’s investment accounts purchased and sold shares of the GEO Group, a private prison company. Just 10 days after his inauguration, these accounts made purchases with the company, which is also one of the largest contractors with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The financial form further reveals that Trump’s purchases surged with amounts ranging from $143,000 to $445,000 as the number of immigrant detainees went up.
Other mentions shed light on how Trump gained $80 million as income from settlements with numerous US media agencies and others, with proceeds being paid to The Donald J Trump Presidential Library Foundation Inc. These legal tiffs have seen the president face off against ABC and its anchor George Stephanopoulos, CBS, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, YouTube and its parent company Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai.
Thereafter, First Lady Melania Trump’s $10 million earnings tied to the licensing of her image for the documentary “Melania” also find a place in the POTUS’ financial disclosure form of 2025.
Is Trump really the only US president to forgo a salary?
The $400,000 annual presidential salary took effect during George W. Bush’s presidency. That way, earnings for the entire presidential term can stretch to seven figures. Given his family’s collective ventures and the countless legal tussles he’s embroiled in, the official presidential compensation figures appear rather emaciated compared to the MAGA boss’ earnings outside of the office.
Long before he was elected president the first time, the Republican leader announced that he would renounce his presidential pay and take just $1 a year. For years during his first term, Trump donated his presidential salary to government agencies like the National Park Service. However, his tax returns cited in US reports seemingly witnessed an abrupt end to that practice by 2020.
Contrary to Trump’s claims that he’s the only American president to give up his salary, a New York Times report previously stated that both “John F. Kennedy and Herbert Hoover donated theirs to charity because they were among the wealthiest to serve in the role.”
Economist Peter Schiff, who backed Trump on the 2024 election trail, echoed the sentiment in his critical commentary directed at the MAGA leader.
“Trump has made billions exploiting his power as president. Why would he need a salary? That’s peanuts,” he wrote online. “He gives up his tiny salary as a publicity stunt to create the false impression that he’s not in it for the money.”
Regardless of such counter-responses, Trump amplified his self-serving claims on social media even months ago. In an earlier Truth Social post, he shared a screenshot of a post by influencer Bo Loudon, which stated, “total amount of taxpayer $ the past 10 Presidents took as salary,” adding, “Trump: $0.00 Biden: $1.6 Million Obama: $3.2 Million W Bush: $3.2 Million…”