US President Donald Trump has made quite a fortune during his presidency. Trump, who had an estimated $413 million of cash on his balance sheet and a $454 million fraud judgment against him in New York State, saved himself from a financial crisis. In just a year, he more than doubled his fortune from an estimated $2.3 billion to $5.1 billion, according to Forbes.
Trump is also facing an $83.3 million defamation judgment against him for refusing he had raped the writer E Jean Carroll, among other legal bills that were stacking up by the millions.
Critics believe that the Republican and his family not only cashed in on the Trump brand but also made billions after his return to the White House.
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As the Republican takes an interest in the Middle East, signing multi-billion-dollar deals, the Gulf nations have become almost like a second home for the First Family.
In the last year, an Abu Dhabi investment fund bought $2 billion in USD1, a US dollar-backed cryptocurrency that has been issued by the Trump family’s crypto exchange, Liberty World Financial.
Trump has also opened a new golf course in Qatar, while new Trump-branded hotels will be opened in Dubai and Jeddah soon. The projects are managed by the Trump Organisation.
Over the weekend, Qatar said that it will donate a modified Boeing 747 worth $400 million, which Trump described as a “palace in the sky” to the US to be a part of the Air Force One fleet. The aircraft will soon become the property of a future Trump presidential library and will be available for his personal use.
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While the Middle East has promised the president business opportunities, Trump has also cashed in on other places with a range of MAGA merchandise and licensed Trump products, which increased his net worth by millions.
Trump’s Truth Social platform, which he launched after the New York court agreed to reduce his bond amount to $175 million, has also proved fruitful to him. While its value has halved since going public, Trump has managed to pocket more than $2.5 billion.
After Trump’s win in November’s elections, his eldest son, Donald Jr, announced that he would join 1789 Capital, a venture capital firm backed by the media company of Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host and right-wing influencer.
Donald Jr, along with the company’s founder, Omeed Malik, also launched an invitation-only private members’ club in Washington, which caters for tech bosses, business leaders, energy tycoons and Trump’s inner circle, and has a hefty membership fee of around $500,000.
While Trump’s second son, Eric Trump, has been working towards the family’s crypto efforts, including the UAE deal that could be worth billions of dollars. Following Trump’s win, World Liberty’s valuation soared. Another coin, $TRUMP, was launched days before his inauguration. It’s value jumped up as soon as Trump was sworn in.
Another coin, $TRUMP, launched days before the inauguration, jumped in value after Trump was sworn in. Trump digital assets have increased in value by another 20 per cent after it was announced that he would speak at an exclusive crypto dinner later this month, as the buyers hope their investment will help them in securing an invitation.
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“Trump is a bit different,” said Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W Bush administration, as cited by The Times. “He’s marketing all sorts of exciting things, but it’s almost impossible to stop this. He is the president and he can use his own name to sell whatever he wants. The books and the cologne are cheesy and tacky, and it’s unethical, but there’s not a lot that can be done to stop him.”
“The social media platform and the family moving into cryptocurrency both have serious policy, as well as ethical, ramifications,” he said. “These are areas where there is not much regulation, but where there might be pressure to introduce new rules in the future. There are trillions of dollars of assets, especially in crypto, and there’s a lot of political influence in Washington.”