President Donald Trump defended his family's crypto business in a 60 Minutes interview, comparing the family's stake in World Liberty Financial to assets held by earlier presidents while saying he knows little about how the firm operates.
His argument is that presidents have long owned businesses, and this one happens to own crypto. Critics have argued for months that the scale of the money involved makes that comparison harder to accept.
What Trump said about World Liberty Financial
The interview focused on World Liberty Financial, a crypto company partly managed by one of Trump's sons. Trump confirmed that he is a co-owner of the firm.
He also said he does not know much about how it actually runs. Trump said family members run the crypto ventures and that he has kept away from direct involvement, specifically stating that he does not talk about crypto with his sons Eric, Donald Jr., and Barron, who oversee the family's digital asset businesses.
He stressed that he had built substantial wealth before entering the White House, using that point to separate his situation from the Biden family, a comparison he has made often. The main defense rested on history: Trump presented his approach as similar to that of earlier presidents who kept businesses running during their terms.
The numbers behind the scrutiny
The interview drew attention because of the sums involved. Reports allege the Trump family has earned more than $1 billion in profits from its crypto ventures, including World Liberty Financial and related meme coin activity.
Financial records show an even larger figure: the Trump family and related entities reported more than $1.4 billion in crypto-related income in 2025 alone. That total breaks down into two main sources:
- $800 million from World Liberty Financial
- Around $635 million from sales of the $TRUMP meme coin
A meme coin is a token whose value comes mostly from attention and branding rather than from any product or cash flow. Some meme coins make money for their creators while many buyers end up losing money.
The Binance and UAE questions
The most sensitive part of the story involves who has done business with World Liberty Financial. The firm carried out a $2 billion stablecoin transaction that Binance facilitated, a deal that came after Binance founder Changpeng Zhao received a presidential pardon.
A stablecoin is a token designed to hold a steady value, usually pegged to the US dollar.
The sequence is what critics focus on: a president pardoned the founder of a major exchange, and that exchange then helped facilitate a $2 billion transaction involving a company the president co-owns. The family's crypto businesses have also faced scrutiny over links to investors connected to the United Arab Emirates. Together with the Binance connection, those ties have kept the conflict-of-interest debate going.
Trump's position that his sons run the business and that he does not discuss it with them is his answer to these concerns.
How World Liberty got here
World Liberty Financial launched in September 2024, shortly before the presidential election. The company focused on digital assets such as stablecoins and governance tokens, which give holders voting rights over how a crypto project is run.
The launch came during a broader change in Trump's public stance on crypto. Since 2024, he has increasingly promoted the goal of making the US a leading player in the global crypto industry.
What this means for the market and for policy
The interview did not move markets directly. It produced no new regulatory announcements or policy changes linked to Trump's remarks.
Trump's argument that past presidents also kept their businesses may appeal to his supporters. Most earlier presidential business holdings, though, did not involve a token market that produced more than $1.4 billion in a single year.
