Eric Trump Interview: The U.S. Must Win the AI, Energy, and Crypto Race

Compiled & Edited by: TechFlow

Guest: Eric Trump, American businessman, political activist, and second son of Donald Trump

Hosts: Bonnie; David

Podcast Source: Bonnie Blockchain

Key Takeaways

In this exclusive interview, Donald Trump’s second son, Eric Trump, shares insights on the Trump family’s cryptocurrency strategy, the reasons behind founding the Bitcoin mining company American Bitcoin, how the U.S. can dominate the energy and AI race, and why other countries can’t catch up. He also discusses the story of the Trump family being abandoned by numerous banks.

He also talks about the business and negotiation thinking he learned from his father since childhood, how "Trump: The Art of the Deal" influenced his life, and Donald Trump's intimate and warm side at home.

Key Insights Summary

Why the U.S. Must Win the AI, Energy, and Crypto Race

• "My father wants America to win at everything we do. He believes America must win in energy, win in AI, and also win in cryptocurrency."
• "He ran for office on the premise of being the 'Crypto President.' He believes in cryptocurrency, he believes in Bitcoin, and he believes in digital assets."
• "If the U.S. doesn't do it, Asia will; if the U.S. doesn't do it, the Middle East will. So the U.S. must take the lead."
• "America isn’t just energy independent; we’re exporting energy. If Europe wants to challenge AI or cryptocurrency, good luck to them, because they don’t have the energy infrastructure."

On Bitcoin's Global Value and the Dollar's Advantage

• "Bitcoin’s position in many international markets might be even more important than it is in the United States, the world’s largest economy."
• "In places with severe inflation, bad banks, bad governments, unstable markets, and rampant corruption, what asset is better to hold than Bitcoin?"
• "Everyone wants the U.S. Dollar. No one wants the Euro, and no one wants other currencies; they want the dollar."

On American Bitcoin's Mining Strategy

• "American Bitcoin, founded 8 months and 3 days ago, already has over 90,000 mining machines and more than 28 EH/s of hashrate, representing about 2.5% to 3% of global mining hashrate."
• "The sole premise of our company is to expand our Bitcoin holdings; our North Star is to increase the amount of Satoshi per share."
• "If a company's money could be invested in an asset that has appreciated roughly 70% annually over the past decade, but instead pays it out in high executive compensation, which creates more shareholder value?"
• "We believe in Bitcoin. Unless something catastrophic happens, it will be very, very difficult to make us sell our Bitcoin."

On the Two Bitcoin Company Races

• "It’s a race to accumulate the most Bitcoin, and it’s also a race to acquire the most Bitcoin at the lowest cost."
• "Michael Saylor is a visionary; he has done an incredible job accumulating the most Bitcoin."
• "American Bitcoin wants to win the other race: who can acquire the most Bitcoin at the lowest cost."
• "What other commodity, what other product, can be produced at roughly 50% of its market price? That's what American Bitcoin does every day."

On Being Abandoned by Banks and Entering Crypto

• "We did nothing wrong, but we were kicked out like dogs by the largest banks in America. 300 accounts were closed overnight, purely for political reasons."
• "This pushed us toward digital assets, toward DeFi, and brought us together with people who were also abandoned by these same banks."
• "The enemy of my enemy is my friend. That’s exactly what happened between the Trump family and the crypto industry."
• "If you had told me 5, 6, 7 years ago that I would be this passionate about digital assets, I would have laughed. Now, there’s nothing I love more than this."

On Father, Childhood, and Family Relationships

• "I loved walking construction sites with my father, watching the most impressive buildings in New York slowly rise from steel and concrete."
• "He is my best friend in the world. I am incredibly proud of him, very, very proud."
• "He still calls me Honey. I’m 42 years old with white hairs in my beard, and he still calls me that."

New Fed Chair, Energy, and Cryptocurrency

Host David: Eric, welcome to the show. Kevin Walsh is considered the next Fed Chair, and he is a very tech-savvy person with close ties to Silicon Valley. If he officially becomes the Fed Chair, which we anticipate, he could become the most tech-savvy Fed Chair in history. He has previously stated that Bitcoin and AI will be the dominant driving forces of the U.S. economy. What do you think this means for the future of Bitcoin and AI?

Eric Trump:

Let me put it simply. My father wants America to win at everything we do. He believes America must win in energy, win in AI, and also win in cryptocurrency. That is his entire platform, and that is his entire mandate.

My father ran for office on the premise of being the 'Crypto President.' He believes in cryptocurrency, he believes money can flow more efficiently, securely, and transparently than ever before. He believes in this industry, in Bitcoin, and in digital assets. So, it’s perfectly reasonable that the people around him follow the same premise. If someone didn't agree with this, he wouldn't bring them into his inner circle.

If you look around the world, this is very obvious. Look at the transformation happening in digital assets right now. Look at tokenization. Look at what Bitcoin has already achieved. Look at the growth of digital assets over the past decade; the explosive power is remarkable.

Then combine these factors with another thing: we have a pro-crypto government, and America probably has the best energy structure in the world. America isn’t just energy independent; we’re exporting energy. If Europe wants to challenge AI, good luck to them; if Europe wants to challenge cryptocurrency, good luck to them too. They can’t do it because they don’t have the energy infrastructure to support it.

So we will win because we are the first to take action. We are also the world's largest economy by a significant margin. Now we have a government pushing this forward, and we have the energy resources needed to get it done.

Since my father took office, the policy direction for cryptocurrency has made a 180-degree turn. During the Biden administration, they essentially threw anyone trying to improve finance in better, more efficient, and modern ways into jail. It’s different now. We are going to have a Fed Chair who is very friendly towards this industry, and he’s not just friendly; he truly understands it.

Biden and Kamala Harris couldn't even spell the word AI. They didn't know what they were talking about, and they didn't want to understand it. My father wants to win this race, wants to be the best in the world. And by the way, if the U.S. doesn't do it, Asia will; if the U.S. doesn't do it, the Middle East will. So we are taking the lead, and this is exactly what America must do.

Can the World Win Together?

Host Bonnie: Is it possible for everyone to win together?

Eric Trump:

I think it is possible. Obviously, cryptocurrency is a global digital finance platform. I am the head of American Bitcoin and one of its founders. I believe in digital assets.

I would even say that Bitcoin's position in many international markets is just as important, or even more important, than its position in the United States, even though the U.S. is the world's largest economy. Many parts of the world have hyperinflation, bad banks, bad governments, unstable markets, and outright corruption. In these places, what is more suitable to hold than Bitcoin? Because no one can confiscate your money in the middle of the night, institutions can't lose your money, and capital markets can't crash and destroy your resources.

Suddenly, you have global liquidity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. How? You can do it through your iPad or smartphone.

I could argue that the global community is actually the biggest beneficiary of this, because it creates financial independence and financial freedom worldwide, and it connects global finance in unprecedented ways.

For example, if I need to send money to Morocco right now, how would I do it? If I had to use the SWIFT wire system, I would first need to find a bank in Morocco. Who do I talk to? Do we speak the same language? What is the currency exchange rate? What cryptocurrency does is eliminate all of this. It allows for the instant transfer of funds across the globe.

So you ask if it will be global? It is 100% global. The entire concept of cryptocurrency and digital assets is to make them global. Who will be the biggest beneficiary? The United States. Because everyone wants the U.S. Dollar. No one wants the Euro, and no one wants other currencies; they want the dollar. So I think it’s indeed a global initiative, but the U.S. will be the biggest beneficiary.

Why Bring Bitcoin Mining to the U.S.?

Host Bonnie: Let's talk about American Bitcoin. What brings Bitcoin miners to the United States? Bitcoin miners need jurisdictions with low energy costs and potentially lower capital gains taxes. How do we make mining in the U.S. more advantageous for the miners themselves?

Eric Trump:

Firstly, there are many tax policies in the U.S. that support this. For example, bonus depreciation allows you to deduct capital investments, and these mining machines, facilities, and energy infrastructure are clearly capital-intensive. So the U.S. does have some advantages. Like other industries in the U.S., if you are willing to invest capital in something and build infrastructure in this country, there are many related tax savings.

Secondly, we have the best energy in the world. Try doing this in the UK; you have no chance. Their economy produces far less energy than it consumes. They can't win the AI race, they can't win the crypto race, and they can't mine Bitcoin. The U.S. has some of the lowest energy costs globally. Look at Texas, where the vast majority of American Bitcoin's mining takes place; energy prices there are among the best in the world. So we can be very competitive.

American Bitcoin went public 8 months and 3 days ago. We now have well over 7,000 Bitcoin. We built this company from scratch, now owning over 90,000 mining machines, with a hashrate exceeding 28 EH/s, accounting for about 2.5% to 3% of the global mining total. This company is only 8 months and 3 days old. It’s a truly remarkable story.

We were able to accomplish this on American soil, using American energy. The United States must become the most dominant force globally in all crypto-related matters, all digital market and digital finance-related matters. This is a major goal of mine, and it’s a direction I am sprinting towards very, very quickly.

The Trump Family's "Art of the Deal"

Host Bonnie: I really love "The Art of the Deal." I even made a video about it. How has it influenced the way you view deals and business?

Eric Trump:

I have lived "The Art of the Deal" my entire life. You could say I was born into it. I was very, very young when that book was published. In many ways, it has been a guiding principle for my life.

I run the Trump Organization every day. Before my father entered politics, I worked with him almost every day, every second. He is my best friend in the world. Those experiences and lessons were deeply instilled in us, like the need to negotiate everything and to operate in a very lean manner.

We do exactly that at American Bitcoin. We negotiate everything and operate extremely leanly. We likely have the lowest SG&A costs in the entire industry, by a significant margin. We can't even find competitors whose cost structure and efficiency are on the same level as ours.

American Bitcoin Strategy

Eric Trump:

We achieve this because we don't pay absurd salaries to CEOs who take compensation in cash. At the end of the day, what are we trying to build? We are trying to build our Bitcoin holdings.

If you pay hundreds of millions of dollars to company executives, money that could have been invested in an asset that has grown roughly 70% annually over the past decade, which do you think creates more value for shareholders? Executive compensation, or actually collecting Bitcoin, holding Bitcoin, and letting it continue to grow and appreciate year after year?

Host David: How do you decide how much of the mined Bitcoin to sell on the market?

Eric Trump:

We strive to hold every single Bitcoin. The sole premise of our entire company is to expand our Bitcoin holdings. Our North Star is to increase the amount of Satoshi per share.

Never Selling Bitcoin?

Host David: Michael Saylor just said he might sell some Bitcoin to finance dividends. What would make you turn around and decide to sell some Bitcoin? If someone asked if you could sell some Bitcoin, what reason would make you do it?

Eric Trump:

It would have to be a catastrophic situation. We are American Bitcoin. We believe in Bitcoin. No matter what happens, it will be very, very difficult to make us sell our treasury reserves. The sole goal of our entire company is to expand this reserve.

Look at what is happening in the entire global ecosystem. You see what retail investors are doing, and you see what institutional investors are doing. You see the largest banks in America hoarding Bitcoin. You see Fortune 500 companies putting Bitcoin on their balance sheets in unprecedented ways. You also see market structure legislation, and you see countries around the world starting to follow the U.S., embracing cryptocurrency in new ways.

Cryptocurrency is undergoing mass adoption, especially Bitcoin, because Bitcoin is clearly winning this race. This trend is something we have never seen before. Since we believe it is the perfect financial tool, why would we divest this asset? So, our entire premise is to hoard as much as possible.

The Two Races for Bitcoin Companies

Eric Trump:

We believe there are two races here. Michael is a good friend of mine, and I know you interviewed him before. I have known Michael for 25 years, long before he joined MicroStrategy.

The first race is about who can accumulate the most Bitcoin. Michael has done an incredible job with this; he is very visionary. The second race is about who can acquire the most Bitcoin at the lowest cost. And I can tell you that at American Bitcoin, we want to win this race. We want to be the ones who acquire the most Bitcoin at the lowest cost.

Can you grow a dollar's worth of wheat for 50 cents? Can you grow a dollar's worth of corn? These analogies are a bit exaggerated, but obviously you can't; the gap is huge. Can you mine a dollar's worth of gold for 50 cents? What other commodity, what other product, can be produced at roughly 50% of its market price?

That is what American Bitcoin does every day. Based on our infrastructure, low-cost structure, and energy structure, it is a truly remarkable business model. We are also incredibly proud of how far the company has come in just 8 months.

The Enemy of Your Enemy is Your Friend

Host Bonnie: Why is Bitcoin important to you personally?

Eric Trump:

Digital assets became important to me because we were abandoned by the banks. In American politics, things are very brutal, just like politics is brutal in every country—it is in your country, it is in Canada, and everywhere else. But we were abandoned by the biggest banks in America, and we did nothing wrong.

We own the best hotels, the best residential buildings, the best commercial properties, and some of the best real estate in the world. Yet, we were kicked out by many of the largest banks, like JPMorgan and Capital One. We were kicked out like dogs. 300 accounts were closed overnight. We did nothing wrong; it was purely because of politics.

This pushed us toward digital assets, toward the DeFi world, and brought us together with people who were also abandoned by these same people. As the old saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. That’s exactly what happened between the Trump family and the crypto industry.

Then we met some of the smartest people we have ever encountered, started embracing this industry, and started understanding it. Then it all clicked for us. It clicked for me, it clicked for you, it clicked for your audience, and it clicked for all of us. I have probably become one of the biggest proponents of cryptocurrency globally, and this comes from a man who has spent his entire life building hard assets, like the building we are in right now.

If you had told me 5, 6, 7 years ago that I would be this passionate about digital assets, I would have laughed. I really would have laughed at you. But now, there is nothing I love more than this. I love what I am doing at American Bitcoin, I love what we are doing at World Liberty Financial, I love what we are doing with stablecoins,