Dem
47
GOP
53
Why is Donald Trump even fighting piddling $88 million court findings? That's small potatoes to him. Last year he made over $600 million from his crypto, licensing, and merch, according to a new 230-page disclosure form he filed Friday. Why not just pay off the lady and make the news go away? The reason is that doing so would effectively admit he did sexually assault her and he cares about his image very much. But oddly enough, in the Hollywood Access tape interview, he wants people to know he sexually assaults women.
One of Trump's largest sources of income ($57 million) is from his crypto business. His love of crypto is new. During Trump v1.0, he said cryptocurrencies were highly volatile and based on thin air. He also said bitcoin "seems like a scam." Now that he found a way to make money from crypto, he is hugging it tightly. He even held a dinner for the top 25 investors in the $TRUMP coin, which meant that anyone with enough money could buy face-to-face time with Trump. He also has a stake in World Liberty Financial, another crypto project, which issues a stablecoin, USD1 and has gotten the United Arab Emirates to buy $2 billion worth of it. What they got in return has not been made public.
But this is only the start of Trump's use of crypto to make money. The Big Beautiful Bill now pending in the Senate would create a "superhighway for Donald Trump's corruption" according to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). It would permit banks and private companies to issue stablecoins with minimal oversight (such as whether the fund actually had enough assets to cover all the coins issued). If people start getting statement enclosures with their bank statements touting "safe investment in stablecoins," many people are sure to sign up. The coins will shoot up in value, until they collapse in a blaze of glory, something that eventually happens with all Ponzi schemes when they run out of marks.
Another big moneymaker ($50 million) for Trump is his private club at Mar-a-Lago, where the initiation fee to join is $600,000, plus annual membership contributions and fees associated with its use as a resort and golf club. He also made money from licensing his name, for example $15 million from a Trump-branded property in Dubai..
At the other end of the scale, Trump made $1.3 million from the Bible he hawks, helped by his MAPA (Make America Pray Again) pitch on the campaign trail last year. He also made $2.5 million from Trump sneakers and $2.8 million from Trump "Swiss" watches (which are made by a small company located in the Wyoming part of Switzerland).
All in all, Trump has hundreds of irons in the fire with all manner of business ventures all over the world. It is surprising he has any time at all left over for presidenting. (V)