Is This Not a Conflict of Interest? Trump Earns 1.9 Trillion Won Since Taking Office

U.S. President Donald Trump has reportedly generated an astronomical amount of income through cryptocurrency ventures and stock trading during his first year in office.

According to a 920-page periodic financial disclosure released by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, President Trump earned approximately 1.2 billion dollars—about 1.9 trillion Korean won—from cryptocurrency-related businesses alone last year, despite the overall downturn in the crypto market.

This figure is more than double his total income from the year prior to his return to the White House.

The primary source of this profit was World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency company he co-founded with his family.

The company issued its own tokens for sale to investors, and the structure was designed so that 75 percent of the profits, after expenses, would be funneled to entities controlled by Trump.

Notably, it was discovered that just before Trump took office, an investment firm linked to the United Arab Emirates government purchased a 49 percent stake in the company for 500 million dollars. This has sparked controversy, as the Trump administration subsequently approved the export of high-performance AI chips to the Middle East, overriding objections from national security officials.

In addition, President Trump earned over 600 million dollars—approximately 930 billion Korean won—in royalties from meme coins bearing his name.

The timing of his stock trades, which coincided with government policies, has also become a subject of intense discussion.

In the first quarter of this year, President Trump heavily invested in major tech stocks, including Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia.

The controversy is particularly focused on his purchase of Nvidia stock, which was made just one week before the U.S. Department of Commerce officially approved semiconductor exports to China. Furthermore, just two days after he purchased Amazon stock, the company reached a settlement in a lawsuit with the Federal Trade Commission, resolving its regulatory uncertainty.

Beyond these, he earned over 290 million dollars—about 450 billion Korean won—from existing real estate businesses, such as the Mar-a-Lago Club and his golf courses. He also collected tens of millions of dollars from licensing agreements for watches and sneakers, as well as from legal settlements with major media and social media companies.

Despite the growing controversy over potential conflicts of interest, the White House refuted the claims, stating, "President Trump is not subject to federal conflict-of-interest laws and is acting solely in the interest of the American people."

Reported by Lee Hyeon-yeong | Video by JIN Yu-jin | Graphics by Lee Su-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.