John Oliver Says Trump Family Made $1.4 Billion From Crypto as Meme Coin Holders Lost $3.8 Billion
Updated
Updated · Variety · Jul 27
John Oliver Says Trump Family Made $1.4 Billion From Crypto as Meme Coin Holders Lost $3.8 Billion
3 articles · Updated · Variety · Jul 27
Summary
$1.4 billion of the Trump family’s roughly $2.2 billion first-year income came from crypto businesses, John Oliver said on HBO, arguing digital assets have eclipsed real estate as their main source of wealth.
Trump and Melania’s meme coins surged after launch and then collapsed—down 92% and 99% by December—yet Trump still took in $636 million while nearly 1 million buyers lost a combined $3.8 billion.
World Liberty Financial, which keeps 75% of governance-token purchases as fees, was presented as the larger concern: Justin Sun invested $45 million before the SEC settled its fraud case for $10 million, without admitting wrongdoing.
A $2 billion pledge from an Emirati fund generated at least $187 million for Trump’s company, Oliver said, and was followed two weeks later by Trump announcing the UAE could buy hundreds of thousands of Nvidia AI chips.
Oliver said Trump is also backing the CLARITY Act to move crypto oversight from the SEC to the CFTC, framing the push as a bid to weaken enforcement around conflicts of interest.