Trump has made a personal profit of more than $1.8bn in the past year, according to the Center for American Progress

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Latest estimates show that the Trump family has racked up some $3.4 billion dollars in profits since the real estate developer first entered the White House in 2017. But why do so many Americans seem unfazed about this brazen conflict of interest at the highest levels?

Politicians cashing in on their lofty positions is certainly nothing new, although that does not make it right. Even Democrats were crying foul back in 2000 when their darling Hillary Rodham Clinton began her Senate career by peddling a memoir of her years as first lady for a near-record advance of about $8 million. The deal raised eyebrows on both sides of the political aisle. It’s never a good look when a legislator accepts a hefty, unearned sum of money in what may be interpreted as a means of currying favor in the political process.

However, debates over poorly timed, million-dollar book deals and speaking tours pale in comparison with today’s dizzying billion-dollar deals that have emerged from the Trump White House.

While serving as POTUS, Trump has maintained control, like a modern-day mafioso, over The Trump Organization, Inc., which owns and develops hotels, resorts, and golf courses in various countries, while the daily operation of these vast enterprises has been relegated to his family. Trump’s business empire has really started to take off in his second term with a publicly traded social media company, a multi-billion-dollar cryptocurrency venture, golf resorts, among other international interests (In the first half of 2025, the Trump Organization’s income soared 17-fold to $864 million from $51 million a year earlier, according to Reuters calculations).

Meanwhile, Trump has turned the White House and its sacred symbolism into something like a money-generating Disneyland, complete with its own coinage and merch. He’s the first president to manage a private online shop that directs consumers’ money straight into his wallet – around $28 million has been accumulated from the sale of MAGA hats, sneakers, picture books and the “God Bless the USA” Bible.

Trump has made a personal profit of more than $1.8bn in the past year, according to the Center for American Progress think-tank, which reports that most of the money came from launching his own crypto ventures while severely deregulating the industry. There was a $2 billion investment by a United Arab Emirates state-owned enterprise in the Binance crypto exchange using the Trump family’s stablecoin asset. In another investment move, Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and President Donald Trump’s son Eric held a groundbreaking ceremony in May for a $1.5 billion luxury residential development with three 18-hole golf courses outside Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital. The announcement came as Vietnam was trying to avoid harsh tariffs threatened by the Trump White House.

Meanwhile, a $2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia poured into Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s firm, Affinity Partners, while Emirati and Qatari investors contributed billions more, as recently as last year (Kushner denies that there is any conflict of interest in the business venture). A cherry on the top of the Middle East bonanza came by way of a luxury jet presented to the president by the emir of Qatar, which Trump has said will be donated to his presidential library after he leaves office.

Then there’s Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private kingdom where he regularly gets to play king. Once a $100,000 club, Trump began substantially raising the membership payment after the 2016 election. Today, the honor of rubbing shoulders and whispering deals with the movers and shakers of the world will cost you a cool $1 million per year. It has been estimated that the Florida oasis alone has generated no less than $125 million in additional annual profits directly tied to Trump’s political rise. Other sources of profit include gifts, law suits and income from a $40m Amazon documentary about the first lady, Melania Trump.

There are several reasons Trump’s presidential profiteering is greatly different from previous presidencies. In the past, presidential candidates voluntarily released their tax returns prior to and while serving in the Oval Office. This gave the public a peek into their wealth and clearly demonstrated how their net worth transformed after they departed office. Trump scandalously has refused to release his tax returns, leaving the public clueless over his finances.

A US president earns an annual salary of $400,000 while in office. This is on top of being able to live for free in the White House, and having a separate budget for other presidential necessities, like traveling and entertaining. At the same time, presidents have routinely separated themselves from their private business concerns once they’ve been elected to public office. Trump the itinerant businessman stands out as the grand exemption.

The obscene political profiteering from the Trump White House is changing the public perception of the highest office in the land. No longer a dutiful public servant, the present occupant is an avaricious businessman, laser-focused on enriching himself and his family at the expense of the country and its reputation. Such a thing should be totally unacceptable, yet sadly most Americans have become too cynical of their political process to even care anymore.