Eric Trump Interview: America Must Win the AI, Energy, and Crypto Race

Compiled & Translated by: Shenchao TechFlow

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

Hosts: Bonnie; David

Podcast Source: 邦妮區塊鏈 Bonnie Blockchain

Key Takeaways

In this exclusive interview, Donald Trump's second son, Eric Trump, shares the Trump family’s cryptocurrency strategy, the rationale behind founding American Bitcoin, how the U.S. can lead the energy and AI race, and why other countries can't catch up. He also recounts the story of the Trump family being betrayed by major banks.

He also discusses the business and negotiation acumen he learned from his father from a young age, how "Trump: The Art of the Deal" shaped his life, and reveals a warm, affectionate side of Donald Trump at home.

Highlights from the Conversation

On 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 at energy, win at AI, and win at cryptocurrency."
• "He ran on the premise of being the 'crypto president.' He believes in cryptocurrency, believes in Bitcoin, and 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 America has to lead."
• "The U.S. 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 for it."

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

• "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’s a better asset to hold than Bitcoin?"
• "Everyone wants dollars. Nobody wants euros, nobody wants other currencies. They want dollars."

On American Bitcoin's Mining Strategy

• "American Bitcoin was founded 8 months and 3 days ago. We already have over 90,000 miners and over 28 EH/s of hashrate, representing about 2.5% to 3% of the global mining hashrate."
• "Our company's sole premise is to expand our Bitcoin holdings. Our North Star is increasing the Satoshi count per share."
• "If a company's money could have been invested in an asset that has appreciated roughly 70% annually over the last decade, but instead spends it on extravagant executive salaries, which one creates more shareholder value?"
• "We believe in Bitcoin. Unless there's a catastrophic situation, it will be very, very difficult to get us to sell our Bitcoin."

On the Two Races in the Bitcoin Industry

• "It's a race for who can accumulate the most Bitcoin, and it's a race for who can acquire the most Bitcoin at the lowest cost."
• "Michael Saylor is a visionary. He's done an incredible job of 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 or product can you produce for roughly 50% of its market price? That's what American Bitcoin does every day."

On Being Abandoned by Banks and Entering the Crypto Space

• "We did nothing wrong, yet we were kicked out like dogs by the largest banks in America. 300 accounts were shut down overnight, purely for political reasons."
• "This pushed us toward digital assets, toward DeFi, and brought us together with others who had also been abandoned by these 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 five, six, seven years ago that I would be this passionate about digital assets, I would have laughed. Now there's nothing I love more."

On His Father, Childhood, and Family Relationships

• "I loved walking construction sites with my father, watching New York's most impressive buildings slowly rise from the steel and concrete."
• "He's my best friend in the world. I'm incredibly proud of him. Very, very proud."
• "He still calls me Honey. I'm 42 years old with grey 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 Federal Reserve Chair. He's a very tech-savvy person with strong ties to Silicon Valley. If he officially becomes the Fed Chair, which we expect to happen, he might be the most tech-savvy Fed Chair in history. He has said that Bitcoin and AI will be the dominant drivers of the U.S. economy. What does this mean for the future of Bitcoin and AI in your view?

Eric Trump:

Let me keep it simple. My father wants America to win at everything we do. He believes America must win at energy, win at AI, and win at cryptocurrency. That's his entire platform. That's his entire mandate.

My father ran on the premise of being the 'crypto president.' He believes in cryptocurrency. He believes money can flow more efficiently, more securely, and more transparently than ever before. He believes in this industry, believes in Bitcoin, and believes in digital assets. So it makes perfect sense that the people around him operate on the same premise. If someone didn't share that belief, he wouldn't bring them into his inner circle.

If you look at the world, it's 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 potential is enormous.

Then combine that with another factor: We have a government that supports crypto, and the U.S. probably has the best energy structure in the world. Not only are we energy independent, we are exporting energy. If Europe wants to challenge AI, good luck to them. If Europe wants to challenge cryptocurrency, good luck to them. They can't do it. They don't have the energy infrastructure to support it.

So we will win because we are the first mover. We are also the largest economy in the world, by a significant margin. Now we have a government pushing for this, and we have the energy resources to get it done.

Since my father took office, the policy direction on cryptocurrency has done a 180-degree turn. During the Biden administration, they practically threw anyone who wanted to improve finance in a better, more efficient, more modern way into jail. It's different now. We are going to have a Fed Chair who is very friendly to this industry, and not just friendly, he actually 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. He 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 leading, and that's exactly what America needs to do.

Can the World Win Together?

Host Bonnie: Is there a possibility for everyone to win together?

Eric Trump:

I think so. Clearly, cryptocurrency is global finance. I run American Bitcoin. I am a founder of the company. I believe in digital assets.

I would even argue that Bitcoin's position in many international markets might be as important, or even more important, than it is 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 those places, what’s a better asset to hold than Bitcoin? Because no one can take your money at midnight. Institutions can't lose your money. Capital markets can't crash and wipe out your resources.

Suddenly, you have global liquidity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. How? It's in your iPad, your smartphone.

I could make an argument that the global community is actually the biggest beneficiary here, because it creates financial independence and financial freedom around the world. It connects global finance in a way that has never been done before.

For example, if I want to send money to Morocco right now, how do I do it? If I have to use the SWIFT wire system, I have to find a bank in Morocco. Who am I talking to? Do we speak the same language? What's the currency exchange rate? What cryptocurrency does, is eliminate all of that. It allows money to move instantly around the world.

So you ask if it will be global? It is 100% global. The whole concept of cryptocurrency and digital assets is for them to be global. Who is going to be the biggest beneficiary? The United States. Because everyone wants dollars. Nobody wants euros. Nobody wants other currencies. They want dollars. So I think it's a global initiative, but the U.S. will be the biggest beneficiary.

Why Move Bitcoin Mining to the U.S.?

Host Bonnie: Let's talk about American Bitcoin. What brings Bitcoin miners to America? Bitcoin miners need jurisdictions with low energy costs, and possibly a favorable capital gains tax environment. How do we make it more beneficial for miners to mine here in the U.S.?

Eric Trump:

First, there are many tax policies in the U.S. that support this. For example, bonus depreciation allows you to deduct capital expenditures. These miners, the facilities, and the energy infrastructure are obviously very capital intensive. So the U.S. does have some advantages. Like many other industries in the U.S., if you're willing to put capital to work and invest in infrastructure in this country, there are significant tax savings associated with it.

Secondly, we have the best energy in the world. Try doing this in the UK. No chance. Their economy produces far less energy than it consumes. They cannot win the AI race. They cannot win the crypto race. They cannot mine Bitcoin. The U.S. has some of the lowest energy costs in the world. Look at Texas. Vast majority of American Bitcoin's mining happens in Texas. Their energy prices are some of the best in the world. So we can be very competitive.

American Bitcoin started trading 8 months and 3 days ago. We now have well over 7,000 Bitcoin. We built this company from zero. We now have over 90,000 miners, with a hashrate exceeding 28 EH/s, representing about 2.5% to 3% of the global mining total. The company is only 8 months and 3 days old. It's a very remarkable story.

We were able to do this on American soil with American energy. The U.S. must be the most dominant force in all things related to crypto, digital markets, and digital finance globally. That's a major goal for me, and it's something I'm sprinting towards very, very quickly.

The Trump Family and "The Art of the Deal"

Host Bonnie: I love "The Art of the Deal." I even made a video about it. How did it influence your perspective on deals and business?

Eric Trump:

I have lived my whole life by "The Art of the Deal." I was essentially born under it. That book came out when I was very, very small. In many ways, it has been the guiding principle of my life.

I run the Trump Organization every single day. Before my father entered politics, I worked with him every single day, every second. He's my best friend in the world. Those lessons and experiences were instilled in us very deeply. Like you negotiate everything. And you run things very lean.

We do exactly that at American Bitcoin. We negotiate everything, and we run extremely lean. We probably have the lowest SG&A costs in the entire industry, by a significant margin. We can't even find a competitor whose cost structure and efficiency are in the same league as ours.

American Bitcoin's Strategy

Eric Trump:

We achieve this because we don't pay our CEOs absurd salaries 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 appreciated about 70% per year over the last decade, which one 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 to the market?

Eric Trump:

We try to hold every single Bitcoin. Our company's sole premise is to expand our Bitcoin holdings. Our North Star is increasing the Satoshi count per share.

Never Selling Bitcoin?

Host David: Michael Saylor just said he might sell some Bitcoin to finance dividends. What scenario would make you pivot and decide to sell some Bitcoin? If someone asks you if you can sell some Bitcoin, what reason would make you do it?

Eric Trump:

It would have to be a catastrophic scenario. We are American Bitcoin. We believe in Bitcoin. No matter what happens, it will be very, very difficult to get us to sell our treasury holdings. Our entire company's singular objective is to expand that reserve.

Look at what's happening across the global ecosystem. You see what retail investors are doing. 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 ways we've never seen before. You see market structure legislation. You see countries around the world following the U.S. and embracing cryptocurrency in new ways.

Cryptocurrency is being massively adopted, especially Bitcoin, because Bitcoin is clearly winning this race. This trend is unlike anything we have seen before. Since we believe it's the perfect financial tool, why would we get rid of it? So our whole premise is to hoard as much as possible.

The Two Races for Bitcoin Companies

Eric Trump:

We see two races here. Michael is a good friend of mine. I know you've interviewed him before. I've known Michael for 25 years, long before he was at MicroStrategy.

The first race is about who can accumulate the most Bitcoin. Michael has done an incredible job of that. He's very visionary. The second race is about who can acquire the most Bitcoin at the lowest cost. And I can tell you, at American Bitcoin, we want to win this one. We want to be the ones who get 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? Those are exaggerations, but you obviously can't; the margin is huge. Can you mine a dollar's worth of gold for 50 cents? What other commodity or product can you extract or produce for roughly half its market price?

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

The Enemy of My Enemy is Your Friend

Host Bonnie: Why is Bitcoin personally important to you?

Eric Trump:

Digital assets are important to me because we were abandoned by the banks. Politics in the U.S. is brutal. It's brutal in every country. It's that way in yours, in Canada, everywhere. But we were abandoned by the largest banks in America, and we did nothing wrong.

We own the best hotels, the best residential buildings, the best commercial buildings, some of the best real estate in the world. Yet we were kicked out by many of the biggest banks—JPMorgan, Capital One. We were kicked out like dogs. 300 accounts were shut down overnight. We did nothing wrong. It was purely political.

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

We then met some of the smartest people we have ever encountered. We started to embrace this industry. We started to understand it. And then it all clicked for us. It clicked for me, for you, for everyone. I have probably become one of the biggest crypto proponents globally. And that's coming from someone who has spent his entire life building hard assets, like the building we are in right now.

If you had told me five, six, seven years ago that I would be this passionate about digital assets, I would have laughed. I would have laughed right at you. But now, there is nothing I love more. I love what I do at American Bitcoin. I love what we do at World Liberty Financial. I love what we are doing with stablecoins. I love what we do across the entire ecosystem. I am incredibly proud of it all.

Childhood and the Most Memorable Moments with His Father

Host Bonnie: What is your favorite childhood memory with your father?

Eric Trump: