Donald Trump’s media company is planning to raise $3 billion to spend on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, the Financial Times reports.
Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which owns the Truth Social app, aims to raise $2 billion in fresh equity and $1 billion in a convertible bond, according to the report.
The move is the latest potential conflict of interest that has seen Trump pursue policies inside the White House that may financially benefit him and his family outside of it.
Shortly after coming to office earlier this year, President Trump vowed to make the United States the “crypto capital of the world.” As part of that push, he signed an executive order in March to create a strategic bitcoin reserve and a U.S. digital asset stockpile, while loosening federal regulations on the industry.
Trump also has his own cryptocurrency, and last week he hosted 200 of the largest investors in the $TRUMP memecoin at a personal banquet at his Virginia golf club — a move that one special interest watchdog called “nakedly corrupt.”
Trump’s various crypto holdings have increased his family’s wealth by an estimated $2.9bn, according to a recent report from State Democracy Defenders Action.
The anticipated move from TMTG comes ahead of the world’s largest bitcoin conference in Las Vegas this week, where Vice President JD Vance; Trump’s two eldest sons, Donald Jr. and Eric; and Trump’s crypto czar, David Sacks, are all scheduled to appear.
Trump attended last year’s conference in Nashville, Tenn., at a time when he was courting crypto donors for his presidential campaign.
The president’s backing of cryptocurrencies has helped Bitcoin reach a record high price of $109,000 last week.
Trump owns a majority stake in TMTG, which is held in a trust managed by Don Jr., while he is in the White House.
TMTG did not respond to a request for comment from The Independent.
Trump has for years shrugged off the idea that he could have any conflicts of interest between his business holdings and his responsibilities by citing the fact that the president is technically exempt from the laws that forbid such conflicts among cabinet members and other executive branch officials and staff.
Just before he took office for the first time, in 2017, Trump claimed the law was "on [his] side" because "the president can't have a conflict of interest," even as he promised to transfer ownership of his businesses to his eldest sons and pledged that his eponymous real estate and hotel empire wouldn't enter into any new foreign business ventures during his term.
But Trump has made no such promises during his unprecedented second term, and in private, he and his confidantes are dismissive of concerns about conflicts of interest, which they see as a manufactured issue that has been weaponized by Democrats.
And following three failed attempts to jail him for various crimes by state and federal prosecutors during his time away from the Oval Office — plus a successful prosecution that resulted in 34 felony convictions but no real punishment on account of his win in last year's election — people close to the president say the idea of ending up firmly on the wrong side of the law no longer worries him, particularly in light of the Supreme Court's landmark ruling granting presidents sweeping immunity from prosecution.
The White House referredThe Independent to TMTG when asked for comment.
