WSJ Editorial Board Accuses Trump Family of ‘Cashing In on the Presidency in Big and Sketchy Ways’

AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File

President Donald Trump and his family’s financial dealings drew sharp criticism from The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board on Wednesday, with the conservative newspaper accusing the Trumps of “cashing in on the Presidency in big and sketchy ways.”

The editorial centered on Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure report, arguing that while many Americans continue to struggle economically, the president and his family have amassed enormous wealth through a series of business ventures tied to the crypto industry and other investments.

“The Trump clan is cashing in on the Presidency in big and sketchy ways,” it began.

According to the Journal, the report shows Trump earned roughly $1.4 billion from cryptocurrency ventures last year. The editorial says that included $635 million in royalties from Trump’s memecoin, which launched shortly before his inauguration, as well as another $593 million from token and equity sales connected to World Liberty Financial. The publication noted that the company was co-founded by Trump, his sons, and special envoy Steve Witkoff, while Witkoff’s son, Zach Witkoff, serves as CEO.

The editorial also revisited concerns about World Liberty Financial’s overseas business relationships, citing previous reporting on deals involving foreign entities that it said “may have been trying to buy influence with the Administration.” Among the examples cited were DWF Labs, a crypto company based in the United Arab Emirates, and the government of Pakistan. The board also highlighted Abu Dhabi’s use of World Liberty’s stablecoin in an investment involving Binance.

Beyond cryptocurrency, the Journal argued that members of the Trump family have also benefited financially from investments tied to industries receiving federal backing. It pointed to parts of the disclosure showing gains from shares in critical minerals company MP Materials, as well as investments by Donald Trump Jr.’s venture capital firm in Vulcan Elements before the company received a $620 million government loan. The editorial additionally noted that a firm partly owned by Trump Jr. and Eric Trump invested in a company supporting a tungsten mining project in Kazakhstan before the administration announced a minerals agreement with the country.

“Assuming all of this is legal, it’s still an unseemly display of using the Presidency for family profit,” the editorial board wrote. “It’s hard to believe the Trump boys would be able to do the same deals if Dad wasn’t in the Oval Office.”

“If Democrats take back the House or Senate this November, they will have a field day probing the Trump family deals,” the board added. “Charges of GOP corruption will resound through 2028.”

The editorial closed by arguing that “Americans, and especially his supporters, deserve better from this or any President.”

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