Trump made more than a billion dollars from crypto ventures

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0:07Hello and welcome to NewsHour from the BBC World Service. We're coming to you live from London. I'm James Menendez and we're going to begin today in Washington DC where friends and foes of President Trump are digesting the figures and details contained in his annual financial disclosure for 2025, his first year back in the White House. It runs to well over 900 pages. Compare that to the 11 pages of Joe Biden's last filing and is full of detail about the president's investments, stock purchases, licensing fees and gifts. But the top line is this, that he earned more than$2 billion in that period, about four times his earnings in 2024, and out of which more than a billion was from various crypto ventures, a currency he once derided as a haven for scammers and drug dealers.

0:56Well, in the past half hour, Mr Trump's been talking to reporters before boarding the new Air Force One plane, a gift from Qatar. He was asked what message these disclosures sent to the American people. I don't get involved in my personal. We have funds that run my money. Well, I've made a lot of money before I became president. And they invest my money and I don't talk to them. I don't even speak to them. So I have many people, I don't know what they call closed accounts or something. You put your money in and that's it. I don't talk to them. They're big institutions. and they run it. But yeah, I've had a great career in business.

1:34I've had a great career. Let's talk to the BBC's Washington correspondent, Bernd Boosman. Bernd, good to have you on the program. Just tell us about those crypto ventures. Which are the most lucrative ones? Well, I think the most interesting one and the one that a lot of people here in Washington are focusing this morning is on$635 million in royalties he made from a Trump mean coin, essentially a cryptocurrency that's stamped with his face on it that was launched just a few days before he took office in January last year. Notably, the actual meme coin has plummeted in value since it was launched, even if he has himself profited.

2:14There's also more than$500 million in income from something called World Liberty Financial, which is a cryptocurrency firm which is partly co-founded by his two sons and the children of his special envoy, Steve Whitcoff. So I think those two in particular are really raising alarm bells here. I think for many Americans and certainly many detractors of the president, that there is the appearance of a conflict of interest there, especially because many of these cryptocurrency platforms have benefited from policies that President Trump has implemented since returning to office. He's really the White House has really made a point of declaring itself as the White House that wants to make America the cryptocurrency capital of the world.

3:00So, I mean, it's a much more cryptocurrency friendly administration than that of Joe Biden, for example. And many of these companies have themselves profited quite well. And now, as we know from these disclosures, so has President Trump and members of his family. Is there any evidence that he's broken any laws? There isn't. And the White House is very quick to point out that he himself hasn't managed any of this money. It's managed by third party financial institutions, often using technology. And this is an issue that's come up in the past as well. Many listeners will recall just recently there was a UFC fight on the White House lawn.

3:37He had purchased, well, it was purchased on his behalf, stocks in the holding company that runs UFC. But the White House, again, in that instance, dismissed it. And they've done the same here with these cryptocurrency holdings. As well as, I mean, there's all sorts of different ways President Trump was making money. There's real estate. There's the sale of memorabilia. There's people staying at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. A lot of commentators this morning in Washington are just kind of marveling at just how many different businesses President Trump has his fingers in, even if he's not necessarily directly involved in the day-to-day management of this money.

4:20Thank you very much indeed, Bernd DeBoosman, our Washington correspondent, while also joining me from Washington, Reena Shah, political strategist and a Republican former senior congressional aide. Thanks very much for being with us on NewsHour. $600 million before he returned to the White House,$2.2 billion after. What does that tell you? Well, President Trump's disclosure of his billions of dollars in crypto earnings during his first year back in office, I think highlights really both the disruptive power of innovation and the risks of concentrated personal financial interests at the highest levels of government.

5:01I'm someone who has long advocated for strong institutions and the rule of law. So I see this as very troubling, a very troubling precedent for the presidency itself. The White House says there are, quote, no conflicts of interest. Do you buy that? I can accept that statement, but I'm more concerned about the erosion of public trust here. And the presidency is a public trust, not a business opportunity. And when personal fortunes rise so dramatically in parallel with policy influence over the very sector generating those gains, it blurs the line between public service and private enrichment in ways that really damage democratic norms.

5:44And also there's a precedent setting risk here. It just sets the most dangerous example for future leaders. regardless of party if one administration normalizes massive real-time monetization of office through family ventures and licensing deals it lowers the bar for everyone we've seen the trump family do this and so what we risk here is turning the oval office into just another wealth creation vehicle does it does it does it sorry to interrupt you does it go further though i mean Take the example of World Liberty, for example, in the United Arab Emirates, and this is just a few days before Mr.

6:23Trump was inaugurated. So they buy a 49 % stake in that crypto firm. And then not long after, there's a deal done with the Trump administration for the US to export computer chips for AI to the UAE. What do you make of that? Well, many of us say quite suspect or really convenient timing, isn't it? But the vast majority of voters are tuned out. And we'll say on the MAGA side, the feedback that I get is that, well, previous presidents did it too. And I would just counter with this. This is the feeling, I think, is really predominant in American politics. And it's that presidents should exit public service with their integrity intact, not with billion-dollar windfalls tied to decisions made while they're in power.

7:13So for any Republicans and center-right folks who care, they should really think about what's happening here, sort of the broader implications. In a polarized era, what this is doing is fueling cynicism. I mean, both sides do it, sort of becomes the defense, but that weakens our ability to hold any leader accountable. We need clearer guardrails, stronger ethic rules, blind trusts or congressional oversight to protect the office, not the occupant of it. Just in the half minute we've got left. I mean, do you think his core supporters care, though? I mean, they knew what they were voting for, didn't they?

7:53No, they don't care. But true conservatives are coming around. They're seeing how the president has failed them on other matters since coming back to the White House. And I think if, again, if we're talking about the real conservatives here who value limited government and ethical leadership, not personality driven exceptions, these are the people that will either stay home this fall or just shake their head and maybe vote for a Republican again with their nose pinched. I think the one thing people need to remember here is that ultimately this isn't about one man or one industry. It's about preserving the dignity and the impartiality of the presidency.

8:33You know, wealth creation is uniquely American. Weaponising or normalising conflicts of interest is not. So we have to demand better from our leaders if we want to restore faith in our institutions, particularly in this 250th year. Rena, thank you very much indeed. That was political strategist Rena Shah there. The authorities in South Africa say that 900 people were arrested nationwide at those anti-immigration demonstrations we were talking about on the programme on Tuesday. Thousands of people marched through various cities in South Africa. They were largely peaceful during the day, but tensions began to grow in some communities as the day went on.

9:11From Johannesburg, Pumza Filani reports.

9:20Protest organisers had been touting their unofficial deadline for weeks, calling for those without documentation to leave. And on the 30th, their supporters answered that call in their numbers in major cities across the country. In South Africa's economic hub Johannesburg, hundreds of protesters, some adorned in the country's flag, sang and chanted liberation songs. Their clarion call, Abahambe, meaning they must return home, was a regular feature throughout the hours-long marches to various parts of the city. One of the organisers, Ngizu Mkounu, explains why they called the gathering and what they want the government to do.

10:07I feel very frustrated to see that our government has caused so much mess that we have to control as leaders of this march. but I'm very proud of South Africans where they can stand up and resolve issues without violence. We appreciate those countries that have responded positively in the manner that they've taken their own people. Police say at least 25 ,000 immigrants have been repatriated to various countries in recent weeks including Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe. This was with the help of their governments. But for some, the waiting continues, under the watchful eye of local police, to ensure calm.

11:00I'm outside the Malawi Consulate General in Johannesburg. Straight ahead of me, I see dozens of people sitting with the little belongings they could gather. These are Malawi nationals who say they have been in limbo for days as it stands. The people here, we understand, are waiting to be processed. and that seems to be a mission that the South African government will have to facilitate. We understand that the plan is to transport some of them in police or municipal vehicles to Lindela, a repatriation centre, where they can be processed, and then the process of then returning them home can begin.

11:42While at the makeshift camp, I speak to one man whose identity is being protected. I'm never coming back here, he tells me in local language, Isizulu. He's been living in South Africa for almost three years, but without a work permit, believes his prospects here are over. Do you feel safe here at the moment? I know. The group waiting to be processed include the elderly, young men, women and children, many of them toddlers. Local aid workers have been providing food. I've seen some medicine being dispensed, water as well as some blankets to keep, especially the little ones, warm. Critics of this ongoing campaign say concerns about worsening unemployment and the pressure on overstretched public services expressed by many South African protesters are valid.

12:42But turning those frustrations on foreign nationals may be scapegoating and will not solve the country's main challenge, a stunted economy. And that was the BBC's Pumza Fehlani reporting there from South Africa. You're listening to News Air.

13:03Still to come on the programme as tickets go on sale to see the Bayer Tapestry in London's British Museum. and we'll ask if the medieval tapestry's most famous image of King Harold being struck in the eye with an arrow is actually a much more modern invention. The artist who drew it in the 19th century reconstructed the arrow from stitch holes. When you stitch through linen, you make a hole and he could see that there had been something there. So he put in an arrow and that was understood as an arrow in the eye. But it could have been a spear and Harold could have been throwing it. If you look where his hands are, he could have been throwing it or it could have been thrown at him.

13:48More on that story coming up in 20 minutes. Our main story from the BBC newsroom at this hour. The UN is warning of the risk of child trafficking and exploitation in Venezuela following the earthquake.

14:04This is James Menendez with NewsHour live from the BBC. Let's turn to China now, because a new law has come into effect today, which critics say is an attempt to erase the identity of minority groups. It goes by the name of the Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law. One of its measures is to make Mandarin the sole language of education, official business and in all public spaces. The government says it'll strengthen social cohesion by encouraging minorities to assimilate into the dominant Han Chinese culture. That's about 90 % of the population. Well, Sophie Richardson is co-executive director of the Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders and joins us on the line now from Washington, D.C.

14:47Sophie, thank you very much for being with us on NewsHour today. Encourage or force that assimilation in your view? I think it's clearly forced. It's important to bear in mind the context here in which two separate United Nations human rights bodies have already alleged that the Chinese government is committing serious human rights crimes against minoritized communities. And that pertains to the mass arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and of the erasure of Tibetan medium education from classrooms. Right. So what will change in practice under this law then? What is going to be different? I think it's important to understand that the Chinese government already has laws in practices it uses to repress different expressions of identity.

15:38And the new law is very vague in many respects. And so we'll have to wait and see how it actually plays out. But I think we can reasonably assume that people will try to hide or cover up various aspects of their identity, Whether you are an ethnic Han house church member in Shanghai or whether you are a southern Mongolian environmental activist, the law really makes room for the Chinese government to simply say you are violating the ethnic unity and progress law and you're going to be prosecuted. Why is the government and indeed President Xi so worried about these groups, especially given the pressure they've been under, as you described?

16:24Well, I think they see distinct markers of identity as potential means of people organizing and having less loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party. And I think this law is ultimately more of a political statement from the leadership than anything else, reinforcing a very specific idea of what it means to be a law-compliant citizen and effectively criminalising non-conforming aspects of people's identities. And what will it mean for those who are campaigning for greater rights for some of those minorities, particularly those campaigning abroad, do you think? Well, certainly people inside the country are, I think, at even greater risk of arbitrary detention and prosecution because of this law.

17:11But as you correctly suggest, there's also a provision that is meant to apply outside the country. And indeed, James, if some Chinese government official decided to make a case out of it, you and I might, by virtue of this conversation, be in violation of Article 63 if we're determined to be undermining ethnic unity. Just one final thought. I mean, you described some of the detention camps for Uyghurs. I mean, is this the Chinese government trying a more softly, softly approach or at least an approach that looks legalistic to the outside world rather than the images of those camps and all the barbed wire and so on?

17:53I think it's actually a political and legal effort to make these constraints appear legal or somehow compliant by writing them down on a piece of paper and calling them a law. But let's be clear, this law is in absolute and near total tension with the Chinese government's obligations under international human rights law that deals with discrimination and the rights of minority communities. And indeed, it's actually even in tension with China's own constitution. Sophie, thank you very much. Sophie Richardson of the Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders, co-executive director of that network, joining us from Washington.

18:37the Hadzabe people of Tanzania are one of Africa's oldest hunter-gatherer cultures for generations they've survived by reading the land animal tracks trees bird calls or even the direction of the wind preserving and passing on this knowledge though is proving more and more difficult in a fast changing and fast shrinking world however in something of a counterintuitive move a project's underway to use modern technology to harness that ancient knowledge it's been run by the UN's cultural agency UNESCO and trains young Hadzabe men and women to use a cyber tracking app. From Tanzania, Samia Wami reports.

19:17It's just after eight in the morning. Five Hadzabe men set off into the bush in search of food. They are hunting wild animals, but there are no guarantees of what they will find. They invite me to tag along to get a glimpse of how generations before them have secured their daily meals. So they've just spotted an animal track and they believe it's an antelope and they think it passed by here two days ago. But this ancient way of life may not last forever. There are fears that future generations could lose much of the Hazabe culture and traditions. That concern is part of the reason behind a UNESCO-backed project, developing an app to help store traditional knowledge, from tracking animals to identifying edible plants.

20:11Basically, the project aims at empowering the Hazabe community, specifically young men and women. Kevin Robert is a senior official at UNESCO Tanzania. To ensure that the indigenous skills and knowledge they have is integrated with the modern technology. The CyberTracker app allows indigenous communities to record wildlife sightings, animal tracks and environmental knowledge using simple icons. It combines traditional skills with modern tools, helping preserve knowledge while also opening doors to conservation work, certification and future employment. Here's Kevin Robert from UNESCO again. The major issue is that while they have the indigenous knowledge, they do not have formal certification that can provide them an opportunity to access the formal employment.

21:02The training takes place under a tree in an open air. The trainers are indigenous sand bushmen from Namibia, a community with a similar way of life, and the one that has already successfully adopted the cyber tracker app. Lead trainer, Tor David, guides the session. I found a track here, and it is a good track. So you're going to ask a participant if they can identify what kind of animal is this just from the footprint. These assessments are a very important part of the project. The trainers need to be confident that participants have a thorough understanding of animal tracks, fruits, branches and roots, ensuring they can accurately feed information into the CyberTracker app.

21:50Can you tell us which animal is this? The tracking.

21:57Did she get it right? Yes, she got it right. 18-year-old Daniel William represents a different reality. He hasn't attended formal school and is no longer fluent in the Hazzabe language. He mainly speaks Swahili, the national language, reflecting the growing influence of surrounding communities. I think these trainings are very valuable and when I eventually have a family, I will be able to pass this knowledge on to my children.

22:27Even as the day's training ends with celebration, the Hatsabes stand at a crossroads. Balancing tradition and technology, they are finding new ways forward, ensuring that even in a rapidly changing world, their knowledge, skills and identity endure. Sami Awami reporting there from Tanzania. You're listening to NewsHour from the BBC World Service. Do you stay with us? We've got lots more coming up in the second half of the program.

23:22answer your questions about this moment and what to expect in the years to come. From the BBC, it's the United States at 2.50. Listen to the global story on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

23:39Welcome back to News Our New Data shows that global ocean surface temperatures last month were the highest on record. Scientists from the European Union's climate monitor Copernicus say The latest figures are the culmination of an unprecedented period of ocean warming this year, which they say looks set to continue. So what does this mean for the world's oceans and weather patterns? I've been talking to oceanographer Professor Helen Chersky, author of Blue Machine, How the Ocean Shapes Our World. She first gave me her reaction to today's headline. It's definitely not a surprise. You know, the ocean is a liquid engine.

24:16It completely defines the way our planet works. and we know that we are adding energy to it all the time. The major consequence of climate change is that Earth is accumulating energy and most of that extra accumulated energy goes into the ocean and it comes out in the form of heat. So of course temperatures are going to rise but it changes a little bit from year to year. So yes, not unexpected but definitely serious and something to worry about. But the long-term trend is clear and is it likely to get worse? I mean, we've been told in recent weeks they were about to enter or are entering a new El Nino event in the Pacific.

24:55Are those temperatures, those surface temperatures likely to go up in the next 12 months? So El Nino is a phenomenon that happens every few years. It does have a big impact on weather patterns, especially around the Pacific. But El Nino kind of comes and goes over the years anyway. And what the additional heat in the ocean and these continual marine heat waves we've seen over the past few years are doing is they're actually changing how the ocean itself functions. The water itself just being warm actually increases sea level rise. About half of sea level rise up until now has been caused by water that just expands because it's warmer.

25:35So the impacts go far beyond what happens on the land. They impact how the ocean itself works. we don't need to wait for some currents to make things even worse in the future so so I tend to think we ought to worry about what's happening right now do what we can to stop that and when you say do what we can to stop that I mean what does that mean that just means again trying to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere that's right carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases like methane and the thing is we do have the technology to do this and increasingly these technologies are cheaper than the alternative.