Just days before he rejoined the White House, President Donald Trump gave a clashing answer as to whether he had benefited from the crypto memo coin he launched in January.
In a broad interview with NBC News’ Kristen Welker and the press’s Meet the Press released on May 4, Trump said he “has not profited from anything” when asked to respond to critics who said he was benefiting from the presidency through Meet Coin.
“So you’re not making any profits from cryptocurrency at all?” Welker asked Trump.
“I’ve never seen it either,” Trump admitted.
“But what I say to you. Look, if I own inventory on something and do a good job, I think when the stock market goes up, I’m profiting.”
Trump launched his memokine, the official Trump (Trump), on January 17th, peaked at $73.43 two days later, and one day before he was launched as president on January 20th, according to Coingecko.
Tokens have been steadily decreasing since their launch, but surged later last month after Top Holders offered the opportunity to eat with Trump on May 22nd.
Trump clearly didn’t know the recent surge in his tokens, and repeatedly asked how much it was worth now.
The two companies, CIC Digital LLC, an affiliate of Trump’s vast Trump organization, are Fight Fight LLC, co-owned by CIC Digital, own 80% of Token’s total supply of 1 billion.
Most of these tokens are locked and will be released over the next three years. The first lock on April 18 went to CIC Digital with 40 million tokens worth $454 million.
Trump’s Memecoin project has made at least $350 million so far, according to an analysis from The Financial Times in March.
Trump has been criticized for many of his crypto transactions. His opponents say his opponents are a conflict of interest as he aims to pay the sector from regulators.
People from his own party, Republican Senators Cynthia Lumith and Lisa Murkowski, have criticised Trump’s offer to dinner against his top token holders.
In an interview, Trump said he would contribute “back to government” to the president’s salary, urging Welker to ask if potential crypto revenues would also contribute.
“I didn’t think about that,” Trump replied. “I mean, I do a good job with President, so if that’s going up a little, should I contribute all of my real estate I’ve owned for years? I don’t think so.”
Trump repeats his crypto commitment
In part of the interview, Trump issued a meandering statement saying he had repeated his campaign promises to support the code.
“I want Crypto. I think Crypto is important because if we don’t do it, China is going to go. And it’s new, it’s very popular and it’s very hot,” he said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sumyysrjvzm
Trump claimed that former President Joe Biden “pushed it out violently, and then before the election, he completely changed the song.” Biden was not opposed to Trump in the last election, but instead handed the baton to then-President Kamala Harris.
Related: Despite the code promises, Trump’s first 100 days “worst in history”
The president again made the case when speaking to reporters on the White House South Lawn on May 4th.
CBS News’ Jennifer Jacobs reported on X, saying Trump “ciphers are very important” and “hoping to keep them away from China.”
He argued that China would “take over it like AI, as would many other industries and what you want to call them.”
magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures cause conflicts of interest, insider trading questions
