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If there’s a loophole in the law, bet on Donald Trump to find it.
And thanks to one gaping loophole, Trump and his sons have turned the presidency into a business — one that House Oversight Democrats now value at up to $9.7 billion.
Trump says it’s all perfectly legal.
Democrats say it’s impeachable.
Setting ethics aside for a moment, Trump has a real case.
But it hangs by a thread.
The federal conflict-of-interest law, 18 U.S.C. § 208, bars executive branch officials from working on matters where they have a personal financial stake.
It covers nearly everyone in government — except the president and vice president, whom Congress exempted decades ago on the theory that the office is too broad to wall off from every possible financial interest.
That exemption is the entire basis of Trump’s “it’s legal” defense.
Presidents aren’t required to divest, use a blind trust, or recuse themselves the way cabinet secretaries are.
It’s worth noting, though, that since Watergate, divesting or using a blind trust has been tradition, not law.
For roughly 40 years, nearly every president honored that norm anyway, as a matter of self-imposed ethics — even though nothing in the Constitution required it.
Public reporting, contracting databases, and congressional oversight letters point to a growing list of companies — and other income streams — with financial ties to the Trump family:
Cerebras Systems (AI chips) — Pentagon contract, plus a 1789 Capital stake. (1789 Capital is Don Jr.’s firm.)
Vulcan Elements (rare-earth materials) — $620 million Pentagon loan, the largest in the history of the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital.
Powerus (drone interceptors) — U.S. Air Force contract; backed by Don Jr. and Eric Trump.
Kaz Resources, a Kazakhstan tungsten venture — Trump’s sons took a 20% stake in the entity behind the project six days before the U.S. and Kazakhstan formally signed the agreement that opened the door to up to $1.6 billion in U.S. government-backed financing.
World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s crypto venture, sold a 49% stake to an Abu Dhabi investment vehicle backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed for $500 million, sending $187 million to Trump-family entities — signed by Eric Trump four days before the January 2025 inauguration.
Clark Construction, the firm building the White House ballroom, received a no-bid contract reportedly worth up to $500 million; the ballroom’s own price tag has climbed from an initial $200 million estimate to roughly $600 million.
The pardon pipeline — Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao in 2025, after Zhao’s exchange helped funnel billions into World Liberty Financial’s stablecoin (per reporting summarized by Wikipedia). House Oversight Democrats explicitly cite “granting pardons to the highest bidders” as part of their corruption count.
The $TRUMP memecoin dinner — in May 2025, the top 220 holders of Trump’s memecoin, who collectively spent over $148 million buying in, won a private dinner with the president. Many of the winners were foreign nationals.
⭐️👉Don Jr. joined 1789 Capital right after his father won a second term. The fund was managing under $200 million. It now manages roughly $3.5 billion, and by one partner's own account, about 40% of that money comes from foreign investors whose locations aren't disclosed in SEC filings. Below, the deals that explain how, the two under legal scrutiny, and the one that could trigger a third impeachment. For paid subscribers.👇👇
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