President Donald Trump's son, Eric Trump, sparked backlash Wednesday after he claimed that the Trump family had “no damn choice," when asked about the president allegedly "pocketing off the presidency."
He claimed the family decided to turn to cryptocurrency after being shut out by major banks.
A recent investigation estimated that the Trump family has amassed billions since Trump’s presidency through a mix of real estate ventures, licensing agreements, campaign activities, and increasingly, crypto investments.
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During an appearance on Fox News's "Fox & Friends" Wednesday morning, Eric Trump blamed financial institutions for their pivot.
“It’s infuriating. We had nowhere to go... We didn’t have a damn choice. We started getting into cryptocurrency before my father got into office.”
Donald Trump Jr., who also appeared on the show, added to the defense: “Trump was a businessman before presidency. Are we supposed to stop running our businesses? He’s not involved in these things.”
These remarks from the president's sons led to strong reactions on social media.
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The Tennessee Holler, a liberal podcast, wrote on their X account: "Notice they don’t deny it. Corruption and grift at every turn."
Political commentator Vince Wilson wrote: "With how intimately these people are involved in this administration they absolutely should divest from their investments."
Evaristus Odinikaeze, an army veteran, wrote: "Eric Trump’s 'we had no choice but to go into crypto' defense is hilarious. Most people switch banks when accounts close, not mint billions. The Trump family didn’t 'stumble' into crypto wealth. They leveraged political power and insider influence while in office, then wrapped it in a victimhood fairy tale to make it sound like survival instead of self-dealing. Opportunistic and self serving criminals."
The X account "Republicans against Trump" wrote: "Responding to the new revelations that the Trump family has profited billions since Trump took office, Eric Trump claims it was all because the big banks shut their accounts and they 'didn’t have a damn choice' but to go into crypto. Beyond parody."
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Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues its pushback against what it terms “debanking” — the supposed practice of banks cutting ties with clients based on political or ideological differences. A pivotal executive order issued last week urges federal regulators to probe such closures, ban the use of “reputational risk” as justification, and force banks to notify the Department of Justice if close accounts for political reasons.
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