How much money has Trump made on the presidency?
Executive summary
Multiple investigative tallies and reporting estimate that Donald Trump and his family have added billions to their fortune since he returned to the White House — with prominent figures including a $3 billion increase in Trump’s personal net worth reported by Forbes (to $7.3 billion) [1][2], a New Yorker-based analysis cited as putting family profits at roughly $3.4 billion [3][4], and a House Democrats staff report alleging crypto-related holdings as high as $11.6 billion and $800 million in crypto sales income in the first half of 2025 alone [5]. Independent trackers such as OpenSecrets document direct flows to Trump properties and note the unique conflicts created by his retained business interests [6].
1. Tallies and who is counting the money
Forbes calculates that Trump’s net worth rose by about $3 billion in a year, taking him to $7.3 billion, and attributes much of the gain to revived licensing, golf-and-club profits and crypto-related upside [1][2]. The New Yorker’s analysis, summarized in outlets like Rolling Stone, estimates the Trump family has made roughly $3.4 billion tied to the presidency, including crypto value and family business returns [3][4]. A Democratic House Judiciary staff report offers much larger crypto figures — up to $11.6 billion in holdings and $800 million in realized crypto sales in six months — framing those gains as the product of self-dealing and foreign-backed investments [5]. These sources use different methods and scopes: Forbes focuses on a personal net-worth calculation; The New Yorker looks at family-wide gains; the House report emphasizes alleged crypto inflows and foreign actors [1][3][5].
2. Where the money allegedly came from
Reporting and analyses point to several revenue streams: revived licensing and international deals, extra revenues at Trump golf courses and resorts, and large crypto-related inflows tied to ventures launched around the 2024 campaign and after the election [1][3][2]. International investments — from Gulf states and other foreign actors — and new project rollouts abroad are repeatedly cited, with outlets noting a surge in international Trump Organization projects since the 2025 inauguration [7][1]. The House Democrats report specifically alleges orchestrated foreign and corporate purchases of crypto tokens and transactions favorable to Trump-family ventures [5].
3. Conflict of interest and influence concerns
OpenSecrets documents how keeping family-run assets and a revocable trust left Trump and his family positioned to profit from official events, fundraisers and business at Trump-branded properties — an arrangement that creates persistent appearance-of-conflict questions [6]. International reporting highlights coincident timing between presidential travel or diplomacy and business deals abroad, prompting scrutiny over whether presidential actions and private gains are intertwined [7].
4. Disagreements, methodologies and limits of the numbers
Sources disagree on scale and method. Forbes presents an independent net-worth estimate updated in September 2025 [2]; The New Yorker’s family-wide analysis (reported by Rolling Stone) and the House Democrats’ staff report each use different data sets and political frames, producing divergent totals ($3.4 billion vs. up-to-$11.6 billion in crypto exposure) [3][5]. Journalists and analysts warn that some figures — particularly valuation of illiquid crypto holdings or private deals — are estimates with large uncertainty [1][8]. Available sources do not mention a single universally accepted, audited total for “how much Trump has made on the presidency” (not found in current reporting).
5. Political and legal context shaping the coverage
Several sources explicitly connect the reported profits to political leverage and foreign investment: the House Democrats’ staff report frames gains as evidence of corruption and self-dealing [5]; critical outlets emphasize the rarity of a president retaining revocable control over assets and the resulting potential for influence-buying documented by OpenSecrets [6][3]. Conversely, reporting that focuses on economic metrics (Forbes) frames the change largely as market- and business-driven valuation shifts following election victories [2][1].
6. What readers should take away
Independent tallies and partisan investigations converge on one broad fact: the Trump presidency correlates with very large increases in wealth for Trump and his family, measured in the low billions by several reputable outlets [1][3][2]. The size and attribution of those gains, and the degree to which they result from the presidency versus market movements or preexisting deals, remain contested across sources and methodologies [5][8]. Readers should treat single-number claims as provisional and consult multiple audits and disclosures — which, per current reporting, do not provide a single, definitive audited total (not found in current reporting).