Wealth | The Big Take
The Trump Family’s Money-Making Machine
Since he kicked off his campaign, Trump’s empire has landed billions of dollars of deals at home and abroad.
Illustrations by Daukantė Subačiūtė
May 21, 2025 at 5:00 PM EDT
The way Donald Trump sees it, he’s the greatest businessman to campaign for the White House.
“I’m the most successful person ever to run,” he told an Iowa reporter in 2015. “I have a Gucci store that’s worth more than Romney.”
That might have been an exaggeration, but this isn’t: A decade later, no modern American president has positioned his family to make so much money while in the White House. Already, since the early days of his reelection campaign, he’s more than doubled his net worth to about $5.4 billion.
In that time, the Trump name has powered more than $10 billion of real estate projects, a multibillion-dollar valuation for his money-losing social-media company, more than $500 million in sales from just one of his crypto ventures and millions of dollars more from stakes in companies that offer financial services, guns and drone parts. Family members have also scored an array of corporate positions — at least seven new roles as an adviser or executive for his oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., alone.
Compared with the tumult of the presidency, the empire’s approach is consistent and clear: Sell the family name. In any other era, this scale of presidential moneymaking would threaten to be the story of the year, but political uproar has hogged most of the attention.
In his first months in power, Trump put tariffs on and took some off, blamed Ukraine for Russia’s attacks, sent immigrants to a foreign prison and teased a third term that the Constitution doesn’t allow. And as he’s hacked away at the government’s workforce and budget, he’s shrunk the agencies and offices that oversee his public company, crypto projects and even conflicts of interest.
Trump has loosened constraints on overseas dealmaking that were put in place in his last administration. (He also let Elon Musk, the billionaire leading an effort to slash government spending, police his own conflicts). This week, he’s scheduled to dine with his new memecoin’s top holders.
What makes this era even more remarkable is how close Trump came to ruin. His first term ended with a riot at the Capitol, later followed by a $454 million civil fraud judgment and his conviction for falsifying business records. Trump has appealed both.
Now, his assets are in a trust overseen by his oldest son. And despite talk of a recession, the clan stands to get richer than ever.
“President Trump has been the most transparent president in history in all respects, including when it comes to his finances,” said a White House spokesperson. “President Trump handed over his multibillion-dollar empire in order to serve our country, and he has sacrificed greatly. President Trump has disclosed his financial holdings through his annual financial disclosure report and he will continue to do so.”
Trump Jr. said he shouldn’t be expected to change his career on account of his dad’s power.
“I’m a private citizen who has been a businessman and serial investor my entire adult life,” he said in a statement. “It’s ridiculous to expect me to stop doing what I’ve always done to provide for my five children just because my dad was elected president.”
These are the corporate connections, crypto projects and licensing deals — all of them since the 2024 campaign began — that the Trumps are using to climb higher than ever.
Real Estate
This term is different than the president’s first, when his plan to address conflicts of interest hinged on putting his assets in a trust overseen by his two oldest sons and agreeing not to pursue any new foreign deals. This time, what’s off limits are new deals with other governments. That leaves the door open for other opportunities. These real estate developments often involve licensing the Trump name for glitzy hotels and residences, including in the three Middle Eastern countries the president visited this month. Two projects link the Trump Organization to government arms of Oman and Qatar.
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Trump Organization
PARTNERS
Dar Global and Omran Group
Project value
$500 million
Muscat, Oman
The Trump Organization is already profiting from a deal linked to the government of Oman. The development, which includes a hotel, golf course and residences, puts the president’s family into a business partnership with a US ally. Trump International Oman calls itself “the ultimate power move” built “for those who invest to win.” The project, developed by Dar Global, the international arm of Saudi real estate giant Dar Al Arkan, in partnership with Oman’s state-owned tourism group, advertises “hands-off investment expertly managed by Trump while you generate income passively,” along with a lifetime residency visa for investors. Trump Jr. and Eric Trump were seen smiling at a launch event in June, where the “power move” slogan was displayed in big letters. In the meantime, Oman has been playing a central role in high-stakes nuclear negotiations with Iran.
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Trump Organization
Project value
$533 million
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
When the head of Dar Global introduced the “massive” and “super premium” Trump Tower Jeddah to a crowd of dignitaries in December, he said that the brands of Saudi Arabia and Trump represent opulence and resilience. Both are happily transactional: The tower, to be completed in 2029, advertises Saudi residency to anyone who spends about $1 million. Eric Trump was one of the first to rise with applause for the 47-floor seafront development.
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Trump Organization
Project value
About $530 million
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
When the Trumps and Dar Global announced a pair of projects in the Saudi capital weeks after the election, they offered few details and many adjectives: iconic, tremendous, prestigious, unparalleled. It’s also another business deal in a country strategically important to the US government. Indeed, hours after his inauguration, Trump told reporters he’d be happy to visit Saudi Arabia if it bought “another $450 billion or $500 billion” of US products. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was once a
pariah in the wake of the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, has since promised even more investment.
Trump International Hotel & Tower Dubai
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Trump Organization
Project value
More than $544 million
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
On the same July day that Trump accepted the Republican party’s presidential nomination, his company announced a Trump Tower in Dubai that would “establish new standards in luxury.” An early version of its website said that investors who put down 2 million dirhams (about $545,000) can get access to a “10-year Golden Visa.” It didn’t offer specifics.
Trump International Golf Club & Villas at Simaisma
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Trump Organization
Project cost
About $3 billion
Simaisma, Qatar
Before Trump’s second term, he said his family company wouldn’t do new deals with foreign governments. Within months, a project unveiled in gas-rich Qatar seemed to test the boundaries of that pledge. Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment, established by the country’s sovereign wealth fund, said it’s teaming up with Dar Global to develop a Trump-branded golf club and villas inside a new tourism development that’s set to be bigger than Walt Disney Co.’s Magic Kingdom. In his first term, Trump said Qatar had a history of funding terrorism. In May, it offered him a luxury jet to serve as Air Force One.
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Trump Organization
PARTNERS
Tribeca Developers
Estimated sales value
$1.75 billion
Announced
After the 2024 election
Bengaluru, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Noida, Pune
Trump-branded projects are proliferating anew in India. In Pune, already home to a pair of residential Trump Towers, the family announced two new towers with offices called Trump World Center this March. In Gurugram, southwest of Delhi, where another Trump-branded project has long been underway, the Trumps announced the 51-story Trump Residences in April. And in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Noida and Mumbai, a city that already has a Trump Tower, more developments are in the works. On most of those projects the family is working with India’s Tribeca Developers, whose founder, Kalpesh Mehta, met Trump Jr. through a mutual contact at Wharton, according to a local report.
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Trump Organization
PARTNERS
Kinh Bac City and IDG Capital Vietnam
Project investment
$1.5 billion
Hung Yen, Vietnam
Before his father’s second term began, Eric Trump said that anyone looking to curry favor with the president through the Trump Organization would be “coming to the wrong guy.” The Communist Party of Vietnam may see it differently. While Trump was campaigning, the company announced a deal to build a $1.5 billion complex of hotels, golf courses and luxury homes in the northern province of Hung Yen. A post on the province’s website said that the Trump Organization’s work will help with “enhancing Vietnam’s image in the international arena and in relations with the US government.” In September, one high-ranking official stopped by to watch a signing ceremony for the deal, and Trump himself attended a meeting between his son Eric and Dang Thanh Tam, chairman of project developer Kinh Bac City. In March, Vietnam’s prime minister hosted Trump partner Charles Boyd-Bowman, the head of investment firm IDG Capital Vietnam, who said that authorities were helping speed up progress, according to the article on the government website. The Trumps are considering a new tower in the country, too, according to reports from the region.
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Jared Kushner
Project value
$1.4 billion
Preliminarily approved
After the 2024 election
Sazan Island, Albania
Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and former top adviser, has turned to endeavors outside the White House. He wants to make a $1.4 billion Aman-branded luxury resort out of an old military base on a rocky island of decaying buildings and bunkers off the Albanian coast. A committee chaired by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama gave preliminary approval for Kushner’s development on Sazan Island in the lead-up to Trump’s inauguration. Critics have
argued
that Albanian environmental law might have been changed to accommodate the plan for cliffside villas. Most of the money Kushner has raised for his fund comes from Gulf states and investors, including Saudi and Qatari funds. He has said his firm “preemptively tried to avoid any conflicts, so we don’t have to raise capital for the next four years.”
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Jared Kushner and Trump Organization
Project value
$500 million
Branded
After the 2024 election
Belgrade, Serbia
On the site of the former Yugoslav defense ministry, which was bombed by NATO in 1999, Kushner wants to build a 175-room luxury hotel and 1,500 apartments. He decided to brand it Trump after his father-in-law’s reelection. “I thought the tower would make a tremendous Trump Tower,” he said. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he “died laughing” when he read that he was thought to be using the project to influence Trump, according to the New York Times. Soon after, thousands of protesters gathered to commemorate the bombing’s victims and oppose the project. Kushner and Emirati billionaire Mohamed Alabbar plan to start sales this year. In May, Serbian authorities said they
detained a former state official for allegedly forging paperwork to smooth the project’s path. Vucic said “there was no kind of forgery” and there’s been no snag.
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Trump Organization
Doral, Florida
The Florida club, with its four golf courses and more than 600 guest rooms, was one of Trump’s biggest cash cows before the pandemic hit it hard. In the weeks before his inauguration, he got two pieces of good news. First, Saudi-backed LIV Golf scheduled a tournament for April, following others from past years. Days later, the city council approved the Trump family’s plans to build 20-story condo towers on the property, likely boosting its value. At least one important stakeholder came around on the proposal: Doral’s Republican mayor had been a
holdout
before Trump praised her at a campaign event and made changes to the project that she called attempts to be “good neighbors.” Trump also endorsed a new city councilwoman who said that didn’t affect her vote.
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Trump Organization
Membership fee hike
$300,000
Palm Beach, Florida
Other buildings may be more important to his career or his empire, but nothing symbolizes Trump in his entirety more than his gilded Florida club. It’s where billionaires flock to pay homage to the president on his own turf and home to the classified-marked documents that sparked a federal case that was later dismissed. Trump had a deputy point out to reporters last year that the cost of a club membership was going up that October to $1 million from $700,000. To hear former chief strategist Steve Bannon tell it, Mar-a-Lago could even
explain how Trump sees the country itself: “It’s prime real estate. And you’re going to have to pay a premium to get access to it.”
Crypto
Only four years ago, Trump called Bitcoin a scam. Now he’s a crypto booster who’s advertising an array of digital offerings with his name on them, and crypto executives and companies who donated millions to his White House return are hoping to shape policy. Trump’s inauguration weekend featured a black-tie crypto ball, he convened cabinet members and “high-IQ people” for a first-of-its-kind crypto summit at the White House, he set up a national stockpile of Bitcoin and he anointed a “crypto czar.” At the same time, the price of virtual currencies impacts the Trump fortune. He has his own memecoin, he promotes a crypto platform co-founded by one of his most senior envoys, and his social media company has announced plans to sell crypto-based investments. These are the Trump family businesses poised to profit as he turns America into “the crypto capital of the planet.”
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Barron Trump
PARTNERS
Steve Witkoff, Zach Witkoff and Alex Witkoff
Project announced
September 2024
Delaware
The token promoted by Trump and all three of his sons went on sale just weeks before the 2024 election, often to offshore buyers. After the vote, crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun
plowed $75 million into World Liberty Financial while fighting a civil fraud suit from US regulators, which he has said lacks merit. Now that case is on pause. Diplomatic envoy Steve Witkoff, who has met with global leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, also stands to profit from the project, whose co-founders include his sons Alex and Zach. But it’s the Trump family that gets about 75% of certain net revenue. A company spokesman said it isn’t political, its executives aren’t public officials, there’s no conflict of interest and Witkoff “has been actively divesting his assets.” He called Sun an early supporter and said any suggestion that an association with World Liberty would result in preferential government treatment would be absurd.
Trump Digital Trading Cards
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Donald Trump
Park City, Utah
The NFT fad was already fading when Trump
began licensing sets that depict him as a buff superhero, a cowboy in the sky, a gold statue and a cyborg. The pitch for Trump Digital Trading Cards came from his friend Bill Zanker, founder of an adult-education company and chain of massage stores, who has said Trump fell in love with crypto’s “young, ambitious, not regulated” crowd. Trump’s embrace helped land him political support from the industry’s billionaires.
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Donald Trump and Melania Trump
Trading fees and other revenue
$350 million
Delaware
Because memecoins tend to have no practical purpose except making money from attention — these volatile and waggish cryptocurrencies essentially lack concrete underlying assets by design — they make sense for a former reality star. Even so, Democratic officials and even crypto veterans have criticized the coins that Trump and his wife unveiled just before the inauguration. His coin had lost most of its peak value by the time he announced, in April, a private dinner for its top holders, many of whom used foreign exchanges in a sign they’re based overseas. Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat, called it “the most brazenly corrupt thing a president has ever done.” (A White House spokesperson has said Trump abides by conflict-of-interest laws.) Previously, regulators had been mulling whether memecoins should be considered securities, which would invite stricter rules. About a month after the $TRUMP and $MELANIA coins debuted, the SEC weighed in: No, memecoins aren’t securities, but rather “akin to collectibles” and policed accordingly.
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump
PARTNERS
Dominari and Hut 8
Stake for Trumps and partners
20%
Miami, Florida
The relationships between this Bitcoin miner, the Trump family and a new strategic venture are labyrinthine. After the inauguration, the president’s two oldest sons helped create American Data Centers, working with Dominari, the Trump Tower-headquartered investment bank where the Trump scions had just become advisers. Eric Trump called the new data venture “crucial for the development of AI infrastructure,” even though it hadn’t done much of anything yet. About a month later, the fledgling company reached a deal that gave a majority stake to Bitcoin mining firm Hut 8. The Trump brothers and their partners have a 20% stake in the joint venture, now called American Bitcoin. It plans to go public this year.
Corporate Connections
Since the evening Trump was reelected, a scrum of companies have added his sons as advisers. Donald Trump Jr. lined up new roles at a small and unprofitable drone-component maker, an online gun retailer and a prediction market that allows customers to bet on a number of questions related to his father (including what countries he will visit). Eric Trump overlaps with his brother in some cases, and sometimes works solo.
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Donald Trump Jr.
PARTNERS
Omeed Malik, Rebekah Mercer and Chris Buskirk
Fundraising goal for midyear
$1 billion
Role announced
November 2024
Palm Beach, Florida
Less than a week after his father was reelected, Trump Jr. became a partner at 1789 Capital. With co-founders including former Bank of America executive Omeed Malik, Republican mega-donor Rebekah Mercer and investor Chris Buskirk, the firm monetizes the president’s vision for US culture by taking stakes in startups with a MAGA bent. As President Trump seeks to dismantle government and corporate programs promoting equity and inclusion, 1789 is tending to investments such as the Enhanced Games (nicknamed the “steroid Olympics”) and Polymarket, a crypto-based prediction site. “1789 Capital is funding the next era of American prosperity through its core principles of entrepreneurship, innovation and growth,” a spokesperson said. That means taking minority stakes in “best-in-class” private US ventures, sometimes alongside giant US asset managers.
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Donald Trump Jr.
Value of Trump Jr.’s stake
More than $3 million
Trump Jr.’s role announced
November 2024
Orlando, Florida
Soon after the election, the maker of drone components announced that Trump Jr. was joining as an adviser. Its stock soared just shy of 250% in the two trading days that followed. He held more than 300,000 shares, according to a filing in November, when they were worth more than $3 million. Stakes including his were registered for potential sale, but as of early May it wasn’t clear whether he’d sold.
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Donald Trump Jr.
Trump Jr.’s 2024 compensation
$3.1 million
Board role announced
December 2024
West Palm Beach, Florida
PSQ, or PublicSquare, runs a marketplace for what it calls anti-woke products, including pro-life diaper brand EveryLife, and features a buy-now, pay-later system for firearms. The company has lost more than $100 million over the past two years, but when Trump Jr. — already an adviser — joined the board in early December shares of the retailer leaped 270%. Last year, the company awarded him more than $3.1 million, and his 1789 partner Malik is a top shareholder, regulatory filings show. Trump Jr. is “an incredible businessman, strategic partner and marketing expert,” who has advised the company since 2022, PublicSquare CEO Michael Seifert said. He added that revenue is up and that President Trump “is operating fairly and impartially.”
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ron Lieberman
Total value of Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump’s stake
More than $17 million
Roles announced
February 2025
New York, New York
Dominari was a biotech firm that turned into an investment bank with shares that traded below a dollar last year.
Headquartered in Trump Tower, it has lost tens of millions of dollars in the past three years. But in February, its shares spiked more than 80% in the hours after it announced that the two older Trump sons were joining the advisory board. (The stock also rose just before the news was publicized). They are both top shareholders, with stakes worth more than $17 million combined, according to an April filing that listed most of their stock for potential sale. No adviser has sold shares and the firm remains committed to “its long-term growth strategy,” a Dominari spokesperson said this month. Trump Organization executive Ron Lieberman was appointed to the board of directors in December.
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Donald Trump Jr.
Recent stakeholders
Dan Bongino, David Sacks and Cantor Fitzgerald
Company’s market value
More than $3 billion
Show launched
January 2023
Longboat Key, Florida
While Trump Jr. isn’t a Rumble executive, his podcast Triggered with Don Jr. has been streaming on the site since 2023. Rumble’s largest shareholders at the end of last year included crypto giant Tether and names that were about to join the Trump administration, including Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino and Crypto Czar David Sacks. Another major holder was Cantor Fitzgerald, controlled by the family of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Rumble has lost money the past two years.
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Donald Trump Jr.
Trump-related event contracts
More than 48
Role announced
January 2025
New York, New York
Kalshi lets users bet on future events, including elections or even what Trump will do next, like how many times he’ll visit Mar-a-Lago this month or whether he’ll accept Qatar’s offer of a jet. The company fought commodities regulators in court for more than a year to be able to let users wager on vote outcomes last November. When Trump Jr. joined the private company as a strategic adviser, he said his family used it “to know we won hours ahead of the fake news media.” A company spokesperson said employees and advisers are banned from trading on its markets and that Trump Jr. has played no role in any legal or regulatory proceedings.
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Donald Trump Jr.
Value of Trump Jr.’s stake
At least $3 million
Board role announced
March 2025
Coppell, Texas
Once this firearm retailer goes public through the blank-check deal it’s planning, Trump Jr. is slated to join GrabAGun’s board. In a recent investor presentation, the company said that the phrase “WE SELL ’EM, YOU SHOOT ’EM” has “resonated with us since the beginning.” Another Trump connection: The special purpose acquisition company that will make the venture public is run by 1789’s Malik. Marc Nemati, who runs GrabAGun, said the company “couldn’t imagine someone being a better fit” than Trump Jr. and called him a prominent gun-rights advocate and successful businessman.
Ventures
A social-media company that went public just last year now accounts for the majority of Trump’s wealth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His family also stands to profit from a grab bag of new endeavors that defy easy categorization, including the launch of a private members-only club in Georgetown, lawsuits settled just as Trump returned to the White House and a Melania Trump documentary. The jumble of new opportunities underscores the family’s willingness to find new ways to bring in cash from its name and brand, extending past anything it did during Trump’s first term.
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Donald Trump Jr.
PARTNERS
Omeed Malik, Chris Buskirk, Zach Witkoff and Alex Witkoff
Fee for founding members
$500,000
First reported
April 2025
Washington, DC
Donald Trump Jr. and his friends were all but flaunting their links to the White House when they named their new invite-only club Executive Branch. In case the subtlety was lost on anyone, the invitation for their White House Correspondents’ Association after-party was illustrated, in gold, with an eagle that resembles the one on the presidential seal. The club, which includes Sacks and Trump Jr. business partner Malik, already has a waitlist, according to Politico.
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Donald Trump
First reported
After the 2024 election
US
After Trump’s reelection, big tech and media companies paid tens of millions of dollars to end lawsuits that otherwise would have pitted them against a sitting president. Meta, Facebook’s parent, said it would contribute $22 million to his presidential library to end a lawsuit that claimed he was illegally banned from its social networks after the 2021 Capitol riot. ABC News, owned by Disney, agreed in December to pay $15 million toward his presidential foundation or museum to end a suit claiming one of its anchors defamed him. And Elon Musk’s X agreed to pay about $10 million to settle the lawsuit Trump brought against it and a former executive, the Wall Street Journal reported in February.
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Donald Trump, Melania Trump and Trump Organization
Film licensing
$40 million
First reported
January 2025
Seattle, Washington
Amazon plays a role in several Trump family projects. It bought rights to Melania Trump’s documentary, paying $40 million to license the film and almost tripling the next-best offer, the Wall Street Journal reported. Amazon licensed the film only because “we think customers are going to love it,” a company spokesperson said. This year, it started streaming reruns of The Apprentice, the NBC reality TV competition that remade Trump’s career. The Trump Organization also announced an official storefront on Amazon to sell branded merchandise, which a spokesperson for the retail giant said is “joining millions of other independent sellers.”
TRUMP CONNECTIONS
Donald Trump
Never Surrender High-Tops cost
$399
Sheridan, Wyoming
While gunning for the Republican nomination, Trump stopped by Sneaker Con in Philadelphia to hawk high-tops in his preferred golden palette. Trump-branded sneakers and golf shoes are just one subgenre of merch bearing the president’s name, retailing at steep prices and adding to his wealth. Trump’s Never Surrender high-tops are sold out, according to their official website, but sneakerheads can still snag limited-edition gold low-tops for $499.