Trump family deal spree could open door for future presidents to profit from office

NEW YORK (AP) — For the Trump family, business has never been this good.

Whereas the Trump Organization didn’t do a single deal overseas in Donald Trump’s first term as president, it did eight in the past year.

It got more than double the money in the four months of his second term selling Trump “meme” coins than it did in four years running a massive Washington D.C. hotel the last time he was in office.

And there are more potential conflicts as the family makes money investing in companies dependent on federal contracts and seeking taxpayer funded grants and loans.

“Whatever constraints there were in the first term appear to have completely disappeared,” says Columbia University historian Timothy Naftali.

Princeton University historian Julian Zelizer worries about the message Trump is sending to future presidents.

“He has shown politically there is no price to be paid to making money,” he said. “You know you can go there.”

The White House said Trump has no conflicts of interest, reiterated that his assets are in a trust managed by his children and said that he has “no involvement” in family deals. In a separate statement, the Trump Organization said, “The implication that politics has enriched the Trump family is unfounded.”

But compared to Trump's first term, the gusher of recent family deals and the questions they raise stand out.

In Qatar, a Trump golf club and villa project is being developed in part by a company owned by the Qatari government. In Vietnam, where The New York Times reported the government pushed farmers off their land to make way for a Trump resort, the country’s deputy prime minister signed off on the deal at a ceremony. And in Saudi Arabia, a planned “Trump Plaza” resort on the Red Sea is being built by a Saudi real estate developer close to the ruling family.

Whether the deals played any role in changing U.S. policies in ways these countries sought is nearly impossible to know but the countries did get what they wanted – access to advanced U.S. technology for Qatar, tariff relief for Vietnam and fighter jets for Saudi Arabia.

And the Trump Organization got something too: Tens of millions in fees.

Another deal raising conflicts of interest questions relates to one of the family's crypto ventures.

Days before the inauguration, the Trump family sold nearly half of its World Liberty Financial crypto business to a UAE government-linked company run by a member of the UAE royal family for $500 million.

A second UAE entity, a government fund, invested in the offshore cryptocurrency exchange Binance using $2 billion worth of a digital currency called a stablecoin issued by World Liberty. That allowed the Trump company that received the dollars to put it in safe investments such as bonds or money market funds and keep the tens of millions of dollars in interest for itself.

Shortly after, the Trump administration reversed a Biden-era restriction and granted the UAE access to advanced U.S. chips. Binance’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, later got a pardon from Trump, despite having pleaded guilty to failing to stop criminals from using his platform to move money connected to child sex abuse, drug trafficking and terrorism.

Asked about the pardon, the White House said Zhao was a victim in what it called “The Biden Administration’s war on crypto.” A Zhao lawyer added in an email, referring to his initials, “Any claim of a quid pro quo by Binance or CZ, or preferential financial treatment by Binance, is a clear misstatement of the public record."

World Liberty has also provided a separate income stream to a new Trump limited liability corporation through sales of “governance tokens” that give owners certain voting rights in its business, though not equity stakes, raising $2 billion last year. That translates into hundreds of millions of dollars for the Trumps through their World Liberty ownership stake and a separate side deal allowing them a cut of these sales.

One big token investor was Justin Sun, a cryptocurrency billionaire who as a foreign citizen would be banned under U.S. law from making political donations to U.S. politicians. Between Trump’s election and inauguration, Sun spent $75 million on the tokens.

In February last year, a federal lawsuit charging Sun with duping investors was paused before being settled last month for a $10 million fine.

Then there are the souvenir-type “meme” coins stamped with Trump’s face that went on sale days before he took the oath of office last year.

Over the next four months, the coins generated $320 million, mostly going to Trump-related entities, according to blockchain tracker Chainalysis. Unlike the lobbyists or campaign donors trying to influence Trump, the coin buyers can buy anonymously.

Add it all up and, according to Forbes estimates, Trump’s net worth is now $6.3 billion, soaring 60% from before he returned to office.

In the first months of Trump’s second year back in the White House, the momentum hasn’t let up.

Last month, his oldest sons struck a deal giving them stakes in an armed drone maker seeking contracts with the Pentagon and with Gulf states under attack by Iran and dependent on the U.S. military led by their father.

Other government contractors in which one or both have gotten ownership stakes this past year include a rocket motor maker, an AI chip supplier and a data analytics company.

Asked about potential conflicts after the drone deal was announced, Eric said, “I am incredibly proud to invest in companies I believe in.” A spokesman for Donald Jr. said he doesn’t “interface” with the government on companies in his portfolio."

As for the president, he has mostly shrugged off the issue of conflicts, telling The New York Times in January, “I found out that nobody cared.”

FILE - Gold Trump sneakers sit on the podium after Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump spoke at Sneaker Con Philadelphia, an event popular among sneaker collectors, and announces a gold Trump sneaker, in Philadelphia, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

FILE - A Boeing 747 with the color scheme of planes used by the Qatari royal family is seen Friday, May 2, 2025 at San Antonio International Airport in San Antonio, Texas. (Brandon Lingle/The San Antonio Express-News via AP, File)

FILE - Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump listen to President Donald Trump's State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FILE - A view of the Trump International Hotel is seen on March 4, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, file)

FILE - From left, moderator Aaron Arnold, Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Mike Ho, executive chairman of American Bitcoin and Matt Prusak, CEO of American Bitcoin, sit on stage at Bitcoin 2025, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

FILE - Donald Trump hold a Playboy magazine and gold Trump sneakers at Sneaker Con Philadelphia, an event popular among sneaker collectors, in Philadelphia, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

A 10-day ceasefire announced by U.S. President Donald Trump and agreed on by Lebanon and Israel appeared to be holding in Lebanon early Friday, potentially boosting efforts to extend a ceasefire between Iran, the United States and Israel.

It was unclear whether a lasting deal would be reached between the U.S. and Iran before the ceasefire ends next week, but the pause in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah could be an indication some progress has been made.

An end to Israel’s war with Hezbollah was a key demand of Iranian negotiators. Israel has not been fighting with Lebanon itself, but rather with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group inside Lebanon, which said in a statement that “any ceasefire must be comprehensive across all Lebanese territory and must not allow the Israeli enemy any freedom of movement.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he agreed to the ceasefire “to advance” peace efforts with Lebanon, but said Israeli troops would not withdraw.

Pakistan’s army chief met Thursday with Iran’s parliament speaker as part of international efforts to press for an extension to the ceasefire that has paused almost seven weeks of war.

Mediators are pushing for a compromise on three main sticking points: Iran’s nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz and compensation for wartime damages, according to a regional official involved in mediation efforts.

Reopening the strait is a key demand by the U.S. and the international community as a global energy crisis worsens daily because of the key oil route's closure. The leaders of France and the U.K. will gather dozens of countries Friday to push forward plans to reopen the strait, although the U.S. will not be included..

The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,100 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen U.S. service members have also been killed.

Here is the latest:

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Thursday welcomed the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon and thanked the U.S. for its role as a mediator.

What is needed now, Wadephul said, are long-term agreements on securing the border, protecting civilians on both sides of the Blue Line, and ensuring the safety of UNIFIL peacekeepers.

He said the talks paved the way for a future reality in which the interests of both sides are equally taken into account: Israel’s legitimate security interests and Lebanon’s right to territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Long-term security in the region can only be achieved through the effective disarmament of Hezbollah, Wadephul added.

Relief at a ceasefire beginning in Lebanon on Friday was tempered by the destruction that many encountered upon returning to their homes.

In the southern village of Jibsheet, a trickle of residents returned to flattened apartment blocks and streets littered with chunks of concrete, twisted aluminum shutters and dangling electrical wires.

“I feel free being back,” 23-year-old Zainab Fahas said. “But look they destroyed everything: the square, the houses, the shops, everything.”

In the southern Beirut suburb of Haret Hreik, Ahmad Lahham, 48, waved the yellow Hezbollah flag. He stood on a mountain of rubble that was his apartment building and also housed a branch of Hezbollah’s financial arm, Al-Qard Al-Hassan.

Iran’s pressure in its talks with the U.S. brought the truce, condemning Lebanon’s direct talks with Israel, he said.

“Only the Iranians stood with us, no one else,” he said, calling Lebanon’s leaders “the leadership of shame.”

A South Korean-flagged tanker carrying crude oil from Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port has safely exited the Red Sea, South Korean officials said.

The passage marks the country’s first such shipment since it began seeking alternative energy routes while Iran is largely blocking the Strait of Hormuz.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Friday described the passage as a “valuable accomplishment” during the government’s efforts to overcome challenges posed by the war.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries did not immediately say how many tankers would attempt to use the Red Sea route or when the vessel that passed would arrive in South Korea.

Officials say 26 of South Korea’s vessels remain stranded in the strait.

In two social media posts Thursday night, U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday could have been “a historic day for Lebanon.”

In a separate Truth Social message after the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon went into effect, Trump added that he hoped the Lebanon-based, Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group “acts nicely and well.”

“It will be an GREAT moment for them if they do,” Trump added.

BP has become a fifth company to strike a deal with the Australian government to underwrite fuel imports at prices inflated by the Iran war.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the BP deal on Friday at Viva Energy’s Geelong refinery, southwest of Melbourne, that was damaged by fire over Wednesday night. He said the damaged refinery continued to produce diesel and jet fuel at 80% capacity and gasoline as 60% capacity.

Viva on Thursday secured 570,000 barrels of diesel underwritten by the government in shipments from Brunei and South Korea at prices that might otherwise be commercially unviable.

Australia has sufficient fuel supplies contracted into May, but there are concerns that shortages could emerge in the months ahead.

In this photo released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, right, meets with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Gen. Asim Munir in Tehran, Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP)

A young girl carries a portrait of a killed Hezbollah fighter at a mass grave where civilians and Hezbollah fighters killed in Israeli airstrikes are temporarily buried in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on the village of Qlaileh, as seen from the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Girls chase bubbles next to their family's tents used as shelter after fleeing Israeli bombardment in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, in Beirut, on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Backdropped by ships in the Strait of Hormuz, damage, according to local witnesses caused by several recent airstrikes during the U.S.-Israel military campaign, is seen on a fishing pier in the port of Qeshm island, Iran, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Asghar Besharati)