U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 14, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci
Donald Trump made the transition from millionaire to billionaire when, according to Forbes, his net worth reached $1 billion in October 1988. But in 2026, Trump's net worth is more than 6 times that amount: Forbes, earlier this year, reported a net worth of $6.5 billion for him. And that is President Trump alone; the number becomes even higher when one factors in other members of the Trump family — which, according to i Paper reporter Laura Trevelyan, keeps growing richer during the second Trump presidency.
In the past, most of Donald Trump's profits came from high-end real estate. But according to Trevelyan, tech and cryptocurrencies now play a major role in his wealth. In 2025, she notes, the Trump family "made $1.4bn (£1bn) from his family's cryptocurrency businesses alone."
"Back when he was skeptical about digital currencies," Trevelyan explains in the UK-based i Paper, "he referred to crypto as a 'casino where the house always wins.' Prescient, when you think about it. As real wages in America fail to keep pace with inflation, Trump has managed to more or less quadruple his income from 2024, pulling in at least $2.2bn (£1.64bn) in 2025 from holdings including real estate and crypto. At a time when 77 per cent of Americans feel anxious about their financial situation, worried by persistently high inflation, elevated gas prices and rising insurance costs, the spectacle of the president and his family getting ever richer during his second term is truly jarring. Even in America's hyper-polarized political environment, the sheer scale of what the conservative Wall Street Journal described as 'honest graft' is impossible to ignore."
Donald Trump and his family, according to Trevelyan, are finding a variety of ways to monetize his second presidency.
"Never mind Trump's history of bankruptcies and failed businesses — now, he's the real deal," the i Paper journalist reports. "And he wants to take home a splashy new Air Force One plane that is a gift from the Qatari government — albeit one that has now been deemed unsafe for travel near a conflict zone — making the £300m Boeing 747 the centerpiece of his planned presidential library in Miami once he leaves office. One of the biggest bonanzas for the president and his sons in 2025 came via an investment firm tied to the United Arab Emirates, which bought nearly half the Trump family's main crypto company, World Liberty Financial."
Trevelyan continues, "This transaction has government ethics experts turning green at the gills. Talk about blurring the lines between foreign policy and private enterprise. Not only is the Trump family enriching itself from an industry — crypto, which the president's administration regulates and he is a cheerleader for — but there appear to be conflicts of interest as far as the eye can see."
Trevelyan notes, however, that even though the "Trump family's norm-busting behavior" is "unethical and unprecedented," that doesn't automatically make it illegal.
"According to a report by the cryptocurrency analytics firm Nansen," the i Paper reporter observes, "nearly one million people who bought Trump's meme coin have lost money — losses totalling $3.81bn (£2.85bn)…. Democrats say the president's growing wealth is a sign he is focusing on enriching himself and not on improving the finances of Americans. You can expect Democratic candidates across the country running for office in November's midterm elections to echo Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff's message to a recent rally, where he told the crowd: 'While you pay more for everything, the Trumps are raking in billions from all over the world.'"
Trevelyan adds, "Yet Americans reelected Donald Trump, knowing exactly who he was. Getting rich is an American obsession."
