Pressed on His Crypto Company and Foreign Investors, Trump Declines to Divest
In a pointed exchange, a reporter pressed President Trump on the crypto company he co-owns with his sons, its Middle East investments, and whether foreign investors are buying influence. Trump declined to divest, asking how one divests from cash and arguing every president has faced the same problem
The Exchange
The reporter put the hypothetical plainly: if Joe Biden were part owner of a company with investments from the Middle East, would Trump not call that corrupt?
Trump's answer wandered before it landed. He said he knew nothing about it, that he made a lot of money before, and that his sons are in the company, making it hard to tell them to do nothing for four years because he is president.
Pressed on why he does not simply divest himself and let his sons run it, he answered with a question: "How do you divest from cash?"
Asked whether the foreign investors putting money into the company he co-owns think they are buying influence, he conceded the dynamic, then broadened it: every president has had this problem, going back to George Washington. Told that no previous president owned a cryptocurrency company, he replied that they owned whatever the era's asset was, crypto now, oil before.
The Company at the Center
The company is World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture Trump co-owns with his sons, which has taken in foreign money, including from the Middle East, while its co-owner runs the government those investors need things from.
The exchange is now material politics as well as ethics: the incoming Democratic majorities have vowed to investigate Republican donors and the administration's business entanglements, and a president on record declining to divest, and acknowledging investors may believe they are buying influence, will feature in those hearings.
Options and Market Impact
Trump-linked assets price these headlines directly: Trump Media & Technology Group is the listed proxy for the president's business standing, and crypto names like Coinbase move on the regulatory climate that donor and ethics investigations can reshape.
Watch for the oversight calendar: the first hearings and subpoena announcements will tell traders how much of this becomes policy rather than press.
Bottom Line
"How do you divest from cash?" is the defense, and it will now be tested by a Congress with subpoena power and a stated interest in exactly this company.
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