Trump’s Wild Crypto Web: Stablecoins, NFTs, and Bitcoin—Oh My!

News on the return of Donald Trump's for-profit presidency

Jun 29, 2025

Trump’s many crypto hustles, explained

On Friday, I joined Boston College history professor Heather Cox Richardson on a livestream to run through Donald Trump’s crypto ventures, how they overlap with his administration’s policies, and why this matters. Not sure I realized it until I was preparing for this chat, but the breadth of his crypto entanglements is quite impressive: stablecoins, memecoins, crypto ETFs, tokens, NFTs, defi, bitcoin reserves, and, soon, wallets.

My latest article on his crypto dealings was published last week: “President Trump’s Crypto Firm Expands Relationship With Embattled Blockchain Billionaire.” I joined my colleague Brittany Lewis to discuss the story in Forbes Newsroom.

I also chipped in with some reporting for my colleague Dan Alexander’s article, “Trump Company Reduces Stake In Crypto Venture.”

In a must-read (and save), Molly White mapped out Trump’s crypto ventures for her Citaton Needed newsletter.

Hi, this site is clean, I swear

It’s been a busy week, what with bombing Iran, the NYC mayoral primary, SCOTUS decsions, Trump’s big bill, the USWNT executing in top form in a 4-0 win and Bruce Springsteen out with seven (!) new albums. Thanks for taking time to get caught up on the latest news about Trump’s businesses.

Appologies to those of you who got warnings from your antivirus software when trying to visit the site after the last issuse. My host and a third-party have both assured me everything is clean, and I’ve asked the firm that flagged the site to update its listing.

1100 Pennsylvania is free—so please share and, if you’re not already one, become a subscriber.

Trump’s latest disclosure provides a new look at his finances

I published a couple articles on details from Trump’s latest annual financial disclosure, which he released on June 13:

My colleagues at Forbes also dug in:

“Trump Just Disclosed He Received Millions Of Dollars From This Saudi Real Estate Developer Last Year” by Giacomo Tognini
“How Barron Trump May Have Earned $40 Million From His Dad’s Crypto Venture” by Kyle Khan-Mullins and Dan Alexander

Trump Media board member who led SPAC merger sells nearly all his shares

“Eric Swider, one of seven board members at Trump Media & Technology Group (NASDAQ: DJT) and a leader in the deal to take Truth Social public, has sold around 90% of his company stock—netting around $4.4 million before taxes—since November, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.”

Read more at Forbes or watch my interview with Brittany Lewis.

Trump launches ‘Made in America’ phone, then drops ‘Made in America’ reference

June 16: “‘Trump Mobile’ Cell Phone Service Announced In Latest Presidency Monetization Push” by Derek Saul for Forbes

June 25: “The Trump Phone no longer promises it’s made in America” by David Pierce for The Verge

Speaking of corrections…

From Dan Alexander’s “After Years Of Lying, Trump Organization Tries To Figure Out How Big Its Properties Actually Are”

Donald Trump spent so many years lying about the square footage of his properties that his own company did not even seem sure of their true size. Under oversight from a court-appointed monitor, the Trump Organization recently tried to sort it all out.
“The Trump Organization,” the monitor explained in a letter to a New York judge last month, “conducted a review and assessment of the physical square footage for each of its properties for inclusion in certain financial disclosures. The review sought to ensure consistency in the square footage reporting across the entire Trump Organization and to maintain a clear source of information for use in future disclosures.”

Please don’t publish a Trump family member’s lies about their businesses without any context. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Other Trump Organzation news

“Will Trump Pay E. Jean Carroll $89 Million? What To Know As Appeals Court Weighs Defamation Case” by Alison Durkee for Forbes
“Trump’s Name Could Adorn Tel Aviv Hotel, Becoming a Symbol or a Target” by Debra KaminBen Protess and Steve Eder for The New York Times
“Trump Organization pays off loan on 40 Wall Street in New York” by Tom Bergin for Reuters
“Democratic Crypto Supporters To Offer Belated Push For Presidential Crypto Ban” by Arthur Delaney for HuffPost

Get in touch

Have a tip or booking inquiry? Email me at z_everson@protonmail.com or call/text/Signal 202.804.2744.

Trump's foreign workforce, virtual cologne and horrible health inspection

News on the return of Donald Trump's for-profit presidency

Zach Everson

Jun 14, 2025

Trump Org keeps bringing in foreign workers to staff its clubs and winery

From my latest for Forbes:

In a Truth Social post Thursday, Trump said his “very aggressive policy on immigration” is driving away long-time workers, citing complaints from the agricultural and hospitality industries—jobs those businesses are struggling to fill.

At the same time, the Trump Organization has consistently made use of temporary visa programs to hire foreign workers for Mar-a-Lago, four golf clubs and his Virginia winery—filing to bring in at least 1,880 seasonal workers since 2008, including 382 during Trump’s first term, according to Department of Labor data.

The company’s use of short-term, temporary visas has increased steadily in recent years, from requesting 121 in 2021 to asking for a high of 178 in 2024.

Read the full story.

Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace. In many cases the Criminals allowed into our Country by the VERY Stupid Biden Open Borders Policy are applying for those jobs. This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!

Long time!

Good morning (or good whatever time of day you opened this)!

A few longtime readers asked if I’m still reporting on Trump. Yes! I’ve published 35 articles for Forbes, mostly on the his businesses, since he returned to the White House.

1100 Pennsylvania will start coming out weekly-ish, recapping my and others’ reporting, as well as posting stuff that didn’t make it into an article.

1100 Pennsylvania is free, so please share it with your friends and encourage them to subscribe to help reporting on the return of Trump’s for-profit presidency reach as large an audience as possible. Thanks!

Thanks for reading 1100 Pennsylvania! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Trump Org applies for sweeping trademark covering items from crypto wallet to virtual cologne

For Forbes:

On Feb. 24, DTTM Operations, an LLC fully owned by President Donald Trump through his revocable trust and with a Trump Tower address, applied to trademark “Trump” for possible use across dozens of crypto and tech-related products with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

One category of goods and services was “electrical and scientific apparatus,” including “downloadable computer software for managing cryptocurrency transactions using blockchain technology,” NFTs, virtual reality games with crypto tokens, VR headsets and tools for creating “virtual footwear.”

Trump’s team also outlined plans for a virtual store selling virtual goods like cologne, candy and spirits, along with digital ad services and online marketplaces.

Read the full story.

Trump’s Bedminster golf club flagged for 18 health violations in latest inspection—earned lowest grade In county

You can read the article here.

How this scoop came about—

On June 2, Trump plugged Kid Rock’s new restaurant on Truth Social.
A former food writer, I immediately wondered about its health inspection.
That led to the thought to check on the latest health inspections at Trump properties.

Thank you, Mr. President.

A couple days after we published, Trump Bedminster’s GM (who also is an adjunct professor of hospitality and tourism at Montclair State University) responded to an inquiry from The New York Times on the inspection:

“This is clearly nothing more than a politically motivated attack,” the club’s general manager, David Schutzenhofer, said in a statement that bore a certain resemblance to a typical rebuttal by the president and his aides.
“Never before have we witnessed such visceral hostility from the Health Department,” he said, adding, “We operate one of the most immaculate golf facilities in the country, and we take immense pride in our standards of cleanliness, safety and hospitality.”

FWIW, not that a health inspector can’t do their job independently of any political leanings, but there’s no record of this inspector contributing to a federal or state committee and her voter registration is inactive.

Read the full story.

All this reporting, but on video

After each article, I join Brittany Lewis on Forbes Newsroom to discuss the reporting.

Subscribe to my YouTube channel and see the videos as they get posted.

Who needs hotel rooms and office space when there’s crypto?

Upon Trump’s re-election, I set out to resume tracking who was popping up at his properties. It quickly hit me though that while those appearances might hint at who was trying to influence Trump, the money involved was a pittance compared to his crypto and other tech ventures. To that end—

“The 3 Easy New Ways Anyone Can Funnel Money Directly To Donald Trump’s Businesses”

And as my colleague Dan Alexander reported this week, “Crypto Now Accounts For Most Of Donald Trump’s Net Worth.”

Some more reporting of mine on the crypto front:

Of course, old school revenue streams continue to be good earners, too:

Don Jr. and Eric get in on the act

Is seems to be working out well for them! They could have each earned $20 million since their father took office again, my colleague Kyle Khan-Mullins reported.

A palette cleanser: some non-Trump reporting of mine

Trump's conflicts already on full display at Mar-a-Lago

"And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." - F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Zach Everson

Jan 20, 2025

Foreign officials, Cabinet picks, lawmakers and governors flock to Mar-a-Lago after Trump’s election

From “Here’s Who’s Paid Homage To Trump At Mar-a-Lago Since Election,” published today at Forbes:

Since Donald Trump’s re-election, Mar-a-Lago has transformed into a hub of political power not seen since, well, his D.C. hotel during his first term.
At least 16 billionaires, officials from eight foreign countries, 14 of Trump’s Cabinet picks, 22 governors, eight senators and 65 members of Congress have visited the president-elect’s Palm Beach estate. Social media posts, press conferences and attendee statements reveal a who’s who of global leaders, political heavyweights, and industry titans converging at Trump’s private club—a stark reminder of how intertwined his administration and business interests remain.
Here’s an inside look at some 125 notable visitors who made a trip to Trump’s Winter White House since the election.

Also, this nugget was kind of buried in the piece, but it looks like the government of Israel probably paid the Trump Org. to host an event at Mar-a-Lago. The club hosted the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast on Jan. 14. Per the press release, “The Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast is a unique initiative spearheaded by the Israeli Knesset.”

Who needs hotel rooms and office space when there’s crypto?

There might be other ways to interpret these Tweets, but—

Looks like Trump’s crypto outlet bought $20 million of Ether on Sunday in anticipation of Trump’s administration making crypto-friendly policies on Day 1. (Thanks for the insight, Eric.)

Trump’s businesses hired more foreign workers than ever in 2024

On Sept. 29, Donald Trump posted an inflammatory, if somewhat typical for him, message on Truth Social: “To all Rapists, Drug Dealers, Human Traffickers, and Murderers, WELCOME TO AMERICA! It is important that you send a THANK YOU note to Lyin’ Kamala Harris, because without her, you would not be here. We don’t want you, and we’re going to get you out!”

Two days later, 118 foreign nationals were scheduled to start working at Mar-a-Lago.

And if you’re wondering if this practice will stop one Trump re-enters the White House, his Virginia winery is looking for 31 foreign laborers to start working next month.

H-2A agricultural claraence order for Trump Vineyard Estates, LLC seeking 31 laborers

More on Trump’s financial interests

Some other articles on Trump I’ve published recently at Forbes—

Listen: Mission Implausible’s ‘Shenanigans at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue’

I joined former high-level CIA operatives John Sipher and Jerry O’Shea’s Mission Implausible podcast recently to share my reporting on Trump’s D.C. hotel, including all the ways that foreign power brokers were able to channel payments to Trump through his hotels and could again. I also got John and Jerry’s expert takes on just how much foreign operatives might take advantage of Trump’s businesses.

From my colleagues at Forbes

“Donald Trump Launches $TRUMP Meme Coin—Token Nears $6 Billion Market Cap” by Ty Roush
“How Trump Can Sell His Truth Social Stock Without Paying A Dime In Taxes” by Kyle Khan-Mullins
“Here’s How Much Cash Donald Trump Spends Each Year” by Dan Alexander
“Military Tech Investors Go Looking For A Trump Bump At Mar-a-Lago” by David Jeans
“Mark Cuban’s Properties In Trump International Tower Are Worth More Than Trump’s” by Jemima McEvoy
“Can Trump Face Criminal Trials After Leaving Office? What To Know—As Jack Smith Argues He Could’ve Been Found Guilty” by Alison Durkee

Other notable sightings

A glimpse of the foreign officials, government employees, politicians, lobbyists, and the like who patronize or appear at Trump businesses. Most people shown here have reasons to want to influence the former president, rely on his good graces for their livelihoods, or should have been providing oversight. Additionally, high-profile guests serve as draws for paying customers.

Jeff Bezos visited at least his second different Trump business since the proprietor’s election in November. He was at Trump’s D.C.-area golf club for an inaugural celebration. Here he poses with model Maria Borges and Paolo Zampoli, a longtime friend of Trump’s who is Dominica’s ambassador to the United Nations

Jeff Bezos, Maria Borges, and Paolo Zampoli at Trump's Sterling, Virginia golf course

Cindy Jacobs— a self-proclaimed prophet—was a featured speaker at the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast that Israel’s Knesset hosted at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday. Jacobs previously had held “experiences with God” at Trump’s D.C. hotel.

Old habits…

Donald Trump Jr at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel Washington DC (Previously Trump, & soon to be Trump again shortly in 2025) yesterday!! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! @realdonaldtrump @teamtrump @trumphotels @trump @donaldjtrumpjr @mdamelincourt @waldorfastoriadc 📸: @anna__ciric 🇺🇸🇺🇸

More Trump Organization news

“The Trumps Are in Talks to Reclaim Their Prized D.C. Hotel” by Craig Karmin for The Wall Street Journal
“An Illustrated Guide to Trump’s Conflict of Interest Risks” by Karen Yourish, Eric Lipton, and Lazaro Gamio for The New York Times
“Anger as Donald Trump’ Scottish resort to host show by far-right ‘hate-monger’” by Martyn McLaughlin for The Scotsman
“Trump and allies blur the lines between politician and influencer” by Drew Harwell for The Washington Post
“The Tech Industrial Complex Greets Trump 2.0 With Galas and Sky-High Hopes” by Nick Wingfield, Steve LeVine, Yueqi Yang, and Julia Black for The Information

Oops

A third congressperson has disclosed shares in Trump Media-- Democrat Morgan McGarvey (KY) Per filing, $1,000-$15,000 of DJT was purchased without his knowledge or his spouse's in his spouse's IRA on 11/6. Sold for a loss two days later. Backstory:

Key Trump Media insiders sell off millions in stock

The CEO of the SPAC that merged with Trump Media dumped all the shares he directly owned

Zach Everson

Nov 13, 2024

CEO of the SPAC that merged with Trump Media dumps most of his shares

Trump Media director Eric Swider sold all of the stock he owned directly in the company on Friday, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission made Tuesday night. Previously, Swider had been the CEO of Digital World Acquisition Corp., the special purpose acquisition company that merged with Trump Media in March.

Trump Media director Eric Swider sold 136,000 shares of Trump Media on Friday, according to a filing made with the SEC. | SEC/Trump Media

Swider did not respond to an inquiry. Via an LLC, he still owns another 18,000 shares in Trump Media.

Two other company insiders also sold substantial amounts of stock over the past few days. Chief financial officer Phillip Juhan dumped 384,000 shares, more than half of his holdings, while general counsel and secretary Scott Glabe sold 16,000 shares.

Trump Store debuts merchandise collection pegged to return to the presidency

From my latest, for Forbes:

Less than 18 hours after Vice President Kamala Harris conceded, the Trump Store sent an email blast on Thursday blaring “EXCLUSIVE ACCESS | The 45-47 Collection Just Launched.” For sale on its website were 21 products, ranging from $28 mugs to $195 Zero Restriction brand pullovers, all emblazoned with “45 47” stacked on top of each other and encircled by 50 stars. Trump, of course, was the 45th and will be the 47th president. As of Monday evening, three of the items—a ladies pullover and two colors of the “45-47 old school sweatshirt”—were no longer available, while sizes were sold out for many other items.

The article goes on to look at the Trump Store’s history, including its financials. Read the rest of “Trump Store Debuts Merchandise Collection Pegged To Election Victory.”

Also, just to get this out of the way: almost all of my reporting at Forbes appears behind a paywall. As anyone who works in or reads about media knows, ad revenue alone doesn’t do the trick these days. Much appreciated if you’d consider subscribing, if you can swing it. Thanks!

A photo of a red 45 47-branded quater zip — "The limited edition 45-47 logo on the chest shows your pride for our president," reads the description for this $195 quarter zip. | The Trump Store

Follow reporters on the Trump Org. beat on Bluesky

With the ongoing Elonification of Twitter, social-media platform Bluesky has enjoyed a huge spike in users recently. If you’re new there and looking for accounts to follow, I created a starter pack of reporters on the Trump Org. beat.

Please let me know whom I’m missing (and Dan Alexander, Susanne Craig, and Dave Fahrenthold, your presences have been requested).

Also, I’ve created a starter pack of my amazing colleagues at Forbes. Please give them a follow, too.

Other notable sightings

Nigel Farage, an MP and Leader of Reform UK, was at Mar-a-Lago on election night.

Trump property regular Martha Boneta Fain got a closeup with Elon Musk at Mar-a-Lago on election night. Fain, a small farmer in Virginia, became an advisor to some pro-Trump groups during his first term. In 2019-2020, she was paid $200,000 to lobby the White House and Congress on behalf of a Kuwaiti company.

Hary Tanoesoedibjo also celebrated Trump’s win with him at Mar-a-Lago. He’s an Indonesian media mogul worth about $1.5 billion. Tanoesoedibjo led one of the country’s political parties until earlier this year, when he passed it off to his daughter.

Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) hung out poolside with former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy at the president-elect’s private club and home.

Looks like Trump II is going to give us the opportunity to get reacquainted with old friends the MyPillow Guy and Silk.

Other Trump Organization news

“Trump Hush Money Case—Including Sentencing—Paused After Presidential Win” by Alison Durkee, for Forbes
“Mark Cuban’s Properties In Trump International Tower Are Worth More Than Trump’s” by Jemima McEvoy for Forbes
“Donald Trump Jr. Opts Out of White House to Join 1789 Capital” by Amanda L. Gordon for Bloomberg
“At Mar-a-Lago, ‘Uncle’ Elon Musk Puts His Imprint on the Trump Transition” by Theodore Schleifer for the New York Times
“Man arrested a 2nd time for trespassing on Trump's Mar-a-Lago home” by Alexa Herrera for Tampa Bay 10 WTSP

Inject gov’t spending at Trump properties data straight into my laptop pls

From Twitter: Elon Musk @elonmusk · Nov 3 There should be no need for FOIA requests. All government data should be default public for maximum transparency. Quote ELON DOCS @elon_docs · Nov 3 Elon Musk: Unless it's a massive risk to the country, all government information should be public. “I think that the strong bias with respect to government information should be to make it available to the public. — | X/Elon Musk

Back to Business: How We'll Cover Trump's Second For-Profit Presidency

Zach Everson

Nov 06, 2024

Good morning--

America voted, by a comfortable margin, it appears, for a return to Donald Trump's for-profit presidency.

While Trump’s business interests have changed over the past four years--good-bye money-losing D.C. hotel, hello money-losing social-media platform--I believe the best way to document the ethical swamp we’re about to be mired in is to track every single conflict as they happen.

To that end, Trump Store dot com is already hawking “47”-themed baseball hats ($55).

As for what that coverage will look like on this end, stay tuned. I’m at Forbes where the money-in-politics team has remained locked in on investigating Trump’s finances (don’t just take my word for it, you can ask Allen Weisselberg). We’ll be fleshing out what that approach will look like in the coming weeks.

Have any thoughts on how to best report on the conflicts on Trump II? I am very interested in hearing them--

Email z_everson@protonmail.com
Mobile/Signal 202.804.2744

As for 1100 Pennsylvania, I’m leaning toward relaunching it as a fully free newsletter, consolidating coverage from Forbes and other outlets. I’ll also be sharing observations that may not make it into full articles but are worth noting.

In the meantime, follow Forbes' Trump coverage at the author pages for the money-in-politics team:

Please encourage friends and colleagues to subscribe to 1100 Pennsylvania. The more people who are informed about Trump’s commingling of his administration and his businesses, the better.

Thanks for reading.

Best,
Zach

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