Trump's Annual Income Reaches $2.2 Billion, Two-Thirds from Cryptocurrency, Averaging 87 Stock Trades Per Day

Original｜Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)

Author｜Wenser (@wenser2010)

How much does the U.S. President earn in a year?

Before Trump, that figure was typically $400,000, which is the statutory annual base salary for the President; plus an additional $50,000 annual expense allowance, $100,000 in tax-free travel reimbursement, and $19,000 in entertainment expense funding. The perquisites of power also include the presidential limousine, Marine One helicopter, Air Force One, and free residence in the White House.

But “typically” has never described Trump—recently, according to Trump's annual financial disclosure filing released by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, Trump's personal income in 2025 exceeded $2.2 billion, setting a record for the highest annual income during a U.S. presidency.

This 927-page document clearly outlines the business empire with Trump at its core of power.

Trump's "Power Monetization Playbook": $1.4 Billion from Crypto, Over $100 Million in BTC and ETH Holdings

For Trump, who has been sworn in as U.S. President twice, the $400,000 annual base salary has long been beneath his notice. He has twice declined the presidential salary.

Instead, leveraging his "brand image" and "family business," he has expanded his empire in the business world, forging paths to wealth beyond his original real estate domain.

Trump's "Income Trajectory": Personal Wealth Multiplied 2.8x in 2 Years, Crypto Becomes a Goldmine

According to Forbes billionaire data, in 2024, Trump's personal net worth was still $2.3 billion. At that time, his annual income was around $600 million, and he was burdened with massive debts—one was a $500 million fine owed to New York State for fraud, and another was $88 million owed to E. Jean Carroll for sexual assault and defamation.

Based on 2026 data, Trump's current personal net worth is $6.5 billion. In 2025, Trump's personal annual income was $2.2 billion, of which the "new family business" of cryptocurrency generated $1.4 billion, accounting for about 64%; the "family's traditional business" of real estate generated $575 million, about 26%; the remaining 10% of income mainly came from litigation settlements ($86.5 million), brand licensing fees ($68.6 million), and stock investments and other income ($79.3 million).

Odaily Planet Daily will focus on uncovering the Trump family's "crypto wealth-building secrets" and the "Trump-style industrial chain."

Trump's "Crypto Details": I Didn't Know, and I Didn't Recuse Myself

The "Great President" recently stated in a media interview that he was unaware of his "cryptocurrency earnings," saying: "I'm always making money. I'm a businessman, and a very good one. I made money, a substantial amount... I let others manage it. I haven't even spoken to them—I don't even know who they are… My son Eric handles that. I don't discuss these things with him... Not knowing about these things is not illegal... There's no law that says when you're running a country, you have to recuse yourself from every possible decision that might involve you. That's simply not realistic."

Somehow, this kind of "Huh? I made money again?" boastful display, coming from Trump, is unsurprising.

According to the latest personal financial disclosure, Trump's personal assets include over $100 million worth of BTC and ETH, as well as a few altcoins like LINK, AAVE, ENA, MOVE, and ONDO. Trump also received nearly $800 million in income from the crypto project World Liberty Financial, co-founded with his sons (including $527 million from token sales and $263 million from equity transfers, including equity in stablecoin company Stablecoin Holdco LLC and WLFI). He earned approximately $635 million from selling TRUMP Meme coins and over $80 million from legal settlements with media companies.

Reuters previously estimated that since Trump returned to the presidency in January 2025, the Trump family's crypto business has generated at least $2.3 billion in profits from investors.

Where does the income from the crypto world come from?

Take the "Presidential Meme Coin" as an example: TRUMP caused investment losses for approximately 1 million people.

A single general's success costs tens of thousands of lives. In the cutthroat crypto market, behind every dollar Trump earns are the bloody chips surrendered by retail investors and institutions.

Trump's "Personal American Dream": I Am the Stock Whisperer

Beyond crypto, income from the stock market is also a significant chapter in Trump's wealth saga.

According to financial documents, in 2025 Trump declared over 22,000 stock trades, averaging 87 trades per day, making him a true "high-frequency trader." As Trump mentioned earlier, the White House explains that "these trades were executed by a professional investment team for the Trump Trust and were not directly handled by Trump himself."

Examining Trump's stock holdings more closely reveals an interesting picture.

• In terms of specific assets, Trump's eight stock accounts hold over 4,000 stocks, primarily concentrated in major U.S. tech stocks like Google (Alphabet), Apple, Broadcom, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, Tesla, and Amazon, with holdings ranging from $5 million to $25 million each. Additionally, index products like the S&P 500 ETF and tech sector ETFs are included.
• In terms of trading operations, Trump's stock investments do not reflect a "value investing style" but look more like "swing trading." Over the past year, Trump's stock account bought and sold Microsoft shares 84 times; even more for Google, at 97 times. Most strikingly, on August 18 last year, Trump's stock account seemingly bought all eight of the aforementioned tech stocks in one go, along with other popular targets spanning payments, technology, investment banking, insurance, and healthcare, such as Visa, Mastercard, JPMorgan Chase, UnitedHealth, and Eli Lilly.
• Regarding long-term holdings, Trump's account bought gold ETFs and silver ETFs five times within the year, without selling any; U.S. Treasuries and a Vanguard fund tracking dividend growth were also held long-term.

Let's consider what was happening in the "outside world" when these on-exchange trades occurred.

Over the past year, Trump's account engaged in intense trading around the announcement of major U.S. policies multiple times: In April last year, Trump announced "Liberation Day" tariffs on global trading partners, triggering a "global tariff war," with U.S.-China tariffs even soaring past 100%. Around that time, Trump's account executed hundreds of stock trades over several consecutive days. Days later, Trump performed his first "TACO plot," first saying "now is a good time to buy," then announcing a pause on tariff hikes, causing a sharp rebound in U.S. stocks. Also, from late August to October last year, Trump's account bought at least $82 million in corporate and municipal bonds spanning multiple industries, many of which clearly benefited from U.S. policy adjustments.

Just yesterday, the U.S. launched another strike on Iran, causing oil prices to rise and U.S. stocks to fall. A suspected insider address placed a bet "long oil, short Nasdaq," with a position size of up to $21 million, resulting in over $500,000 in floating profits, inevitably sparking speculation.

Numerous signs suggest that "TACO" is rife with insider trading and backroom dealing.

The "TACO" Conspiracy Theory: Insider Trading and Going Through the Motions

The conflict between Trump's business dealings and U.S. national interests has long been a public focus and a core point of controversy. Many Democratic senators have previously raised objections, calling for investigations and measures from relevant authorities, but most controversies ended inconclusively or were put on hold due to Trump's presidential status.

But looking back now, many of Trump's anomalous actions might actually be profit-seeking moves.

In January 2025, just days before Trump officially took office, an investment company linked to the UAE government acquired 49% of WLFI for $500 million. Shortly after, despite strong opposition from some U.S. national security officials, the Trump administration reached an AI-related computer chip export deal with the UAE.

Furthermore, his family business, the Trump Organization, earned millions to tens of millions of dollars from real estate projects in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Romania, and Vietnam. These countries subsequently received policy or political concessions from the U.S. in areas like trade, military, and technology.

This also ties into the Trump family's foundational "real estate business" and the brand destinations built upon Trump's powerful celebrity aura.

Brand Value: The Trump Presidential Name

Scrolling through Trump's personal financial report, a notable section contains numerous companies starting with "DT Marks"—DT Marks Dubai, DT Marks Doha, DT Marks Abu Dhabi, DT Marks Hyderabad, DT Marks Gurgaon... Looking at it, it seems like the real estate business all over the world is connected to the Trump family.

But in reality, these are shell companies—most have no actual assets, and "valuation" is out of the question. Their only value lies in "bearing the Trump name and enjoying Trump's brand premium." In other words, by "licensing his surname" through 20 "DT Marks" companies, Trump raked in nearly $60 million in 2025 alone. Among them, DT Marks Dubai generated $10.36 million, and DT Marks Abu Dhabi generated $9.24 million.

Unlike Obama, who sold autobiographies, gave global speeches, and took photos with entrepreneurs after leaving office, Trump has long maximized the commercial value of the "President" title along with his surname "Trump."

A Mutual Embrace Between the Political-Business Era and a Businessman President

For 250 years, compared to the political power represented by the identity of "U.S. President," a president's ability to earn money has never attracted widespread attention.

When Biden left office, his net worth was about $10 million. Obama's personal net worth at the end of 2025 was only around $70 million. The Obamas' total income in 2013 was just $481,100, which, because his "book didn't sell well," was nearly $130,000 less than in 2012, and they had to bear a 20.4% personal income tax rate.

From Washington to Trump, 47 presidencies, the salary has only been raised 5 times: Washington's salary was $25,000 (reportedly donated entirely to the nation); in 1873, President Grant's salary increased to $50,000; 36 years later, President Taft's annual income reached $75,000; in 1949, President Truman's salary broke $100,000; 20 years later, President Nixon's salary finally increased to $200,000; in 1999, at Clinton's request, the U.S. presidential salary was raised to $400,000. However, due to a U.S. law stipulating that "a salary increase can only take effect after the next president enters the White House," George W. Bush ultimately became the "first U.S. president with a $400,000 annual salary."

Now, in just the first year of his second term, Trump has single-handedly elevated his annual income to the billions. Clearly, it's not through a fixed salary. A sign of the times? National destiny management? Power monetization? It's a combination of all three. This is what Trump sees and grasps that his predecessors did not: understand the essence of the world's rules, then fully leverage them for his own benefit.

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Data from World Population Review