WEBVTT - Trump’s billion-dollar crypto empire

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Daniel James, and you're listening to seven AM. Donald

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<v Speaker 1>Trump returned to the White House promising to make America

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<v Speaker 1>the crypto capital of the world, despite having once dismissed

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<v Speaker 1>bitcoin as not money and warned it was based on

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<v Speaker 1>thin air in a twenty nineteen tweet. In his first

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<v Speaker 1>year back in office, Trump has set that skepticism aside

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<v Speaker 1>as it became clear crypto presented an extraordinary business opportunity.

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<v Speaker 1>A new financial disclosure thinks that just how lucrative those

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<v Speaker 1>ventures have become, and while some investors have lost heavily,

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<v Speaker 1>Trump's own fortune has surged, raising questions about how far

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<v Speaker 1>a president can go in turning public office into a

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<v Speaker 1>money making machine. Today, journalists and research director for Public

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<v Speaker 1>Citizens Trump Accountability Project Zach Everson on Donald Trump's crypto

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<v Speaker 1>empire and the new frontier of political corruption in America.

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<v Speaker 1>It's Friday, July three, Zach, thanks for joining us. We've

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<v Speaker 1>got Trump's slightest financial disclosure. What did it reveal about

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<v Speaker 1>the President's wealth since taking office?

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<v Speaker 2>The presidency has paid Donald Trump quite well, and that's

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<v Speaker 2>not money coming directly from the US taxpayers. It revealed

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<v Speaker 2>that he has made at least one point four billion

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<v Speaker 2>dollars from Crypto in last year, which is just an

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<v Speaker 2>astronomical amount of money. All told, his net worth Forbes

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<v Speaker 2>estimates it to be about six billion in change.

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<v Speaker 1>So he is.

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<v Speaker 2>Really doing better now than he has ever done in

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<v Speaker 2>his entire career as a businessman.

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<v Speaker 1>I guess that pigs The question ahead is actually pay

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<v Speaker 1>to other presidents. Actually it compares quite favorably. We haven't

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<v Speaker 1>seen any sort of record of any other president's reporting

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<v Speaker 1>anything remotely like this. And it's not just Crypto, it's

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<v Speaker 1>really everything now.

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<v Speaker 3>He earned more than eighty six million dollars in legal

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<v Speaker 3>settlements as well. Those included the twenty four point five

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<v Speaker 3>million from Meta, sixteen million dollars a piece from Paramount

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<v Speaker 3>and Disney.

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<v Speaker 2>He reported over twenty two thousand stock traits in the

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<v Speaker 2>last year or so, which again is just an astronomical number.

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<v Speaker 2>I think with Joe Biden it was in the dozens.

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<v Speaker 3>In President Trump's biggest stockholdings include Amazon, Meta, Nvidia, and Tesla.

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<v Speaker 2>He is very active financially. His entire financial disclosure came

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<v Speaker 2>to nine hundred and twenty seven pages at a very

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<v Speaker 2>lucrative year last year. What message does this send to

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<v Speaker 2>average Americans, especially those financially.

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<v Speaker 4>I don't get involved in my personal and we have

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<v Speaker 4>funds that run my money. Well, I've made a lot

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<v Speaker 4>of money before I became president, and they invest my

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<v Speaker 4>money and I don't talk to him.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't even speak to him.

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<v Speaker 4>So I have many people I don't know what they

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<v Speaker 4>go and closed accounts or something you put your money in.

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<v Speaker 4>And that said, I don't talk to him. They're big

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<v Speaker 4>institutions and they run it.

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<v Speaker 1>And he's my money selling other things as well, like

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<v Speaker 1>Trump band, Bibles and snakers and other sort of small automs.

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<v Speaker 2>You've got bibles, You've got sneakers, You've got Trump fragrance,

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<v Speaker 2>which I'm sure you're familiar with.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm wearing it rot now Zech.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I can smell it through the camera.

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<v Speaker 1>It's yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, he's really opened himself up to be willing

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<v Speaker 2>to profit in any way possible, in a way that

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<v Speaker 2>we didn't even see in the first term. One of

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<v Speaker 2>the examples I give for that is the online Trump

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<v Speaker 2>store dot com. It didn't even exist in the beginning

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<v Speaker 2>of his first term. It just directed people to a

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<v Speaker 2>physical retail shop in Trump Tower in New York. Within

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<v Speaker 2>hours of from being reelected, they already had out the

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<v Speaker 2>forty five forty seven line referring to the numbers of

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<v Speaker 2>his presidency pedaling merch and if you go on there

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<v Speaker 2>right now, there are dozens of different types of maga hats.

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<v Speaker 2>The Trump Organization's official website is now selling Trump twenty

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<v Speaker 2>twenty eight merchandise. But what we're celebrating our two hundred

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<v Speaker 2>and fiftieth birthday. He's got all sorts of stuff pegged

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<v Speaker 2>to that. You know, it doesn't matter that he's not

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<v Speaker 2>two hundred and fifty, although he's getting up there. You know,

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<v Speaker 2>Trump two fifty is on a whole bunch of merchandise

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<v Speaker 2>that he's selling. And you've made several million dollars off

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<v Speaker 2>that last year, but again not not as much as krypto.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, the big ticket otomy is crypti one point four

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<v Speaker 1>billion dollars in income from that source. When we say

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<v Speaker 1>income from crypti, what does that mean in this case?

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<v Speaker 2>In this case, you know, he is actually making money

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<v Speaker 2>off this. That's one of the things when people hear crypto,

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<v Speaker 2>it's oh, it's for ten money. It's magic beans without

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<v Speaker 2>the magic. Donald Trump has his deals structured so that

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<v Speaker 2>he gets paid. These deals get him paid upfront. So

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<v Speaker 2>for example, with his mean coin, which I think he

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<v Speaker 2>made about six hundred million dollars off of last year,

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<v Speaker 2>that's a marketing deal. He was paid to use his

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<v Speaker 2>image on that. So the coin which was training for

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<v Speaker 2>as high as about seventy four dollars and is now

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<v Speaker 2>down to a dollar. Seventy eight people who bought that

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<v Speaker 2>lost out on it, but Donald Trump still got paid

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<v Speaker 2>from it. We've had a lot of reporting on him

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<v Speaker 2>making money off this be it World Liberty financial token sales,

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<v Speaker 2>getting selling a significant amount of the company to the

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<v Speaker 2>UE's National Security Advisor. So we've seen enough reports trickling

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<v Speaker 2>in over the course of the last year that this number,

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<v Speaker 2>unfortunately was not a surprise.

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<v Speaker 1>So tell me a little bit more about where this

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<v Speaker 1>money is coming from. Because Donald Trump, finously wasn't always

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<v Speaker 1>a crypti goud. It just seems like a scam.

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<v Speaker 4>I don't like it because it's another currency competing against

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<v Speaker 4>the dollars.

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<v Speaker 1>So, hey does he end up in the crypti business.

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<v Speaker 2>He learned that there was real money to be made

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<v Speaker 2>out of fit air. He will credit it with some

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<v Speaker 2>of it to his son Bannon, who was pretty savvy

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<v Speaker 2>in crypto supposedly and has helped him figure out this stuff,

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<v Speaker 2>but he really started off gradually.

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<v Speaker 4>Hello everyone, this is Donald Trump, hopefully your favorite president

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<v Speaker 4>of all time, better than Lincoln, other than Washington. With

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<v Speaker 4>an important announcement to make. I'm doing my first official

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<v Speaker 4>Donald J. Trump NFT collection right here and right now.

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<v Speaker 4>They're called Trump Digital Trading Cards.

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<v Speaker 2>The first product you put out there were NFTs, which

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<v Speaker 2>are digital trading cards.

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<v Speaker 4>And you get a chance to meet me, go to

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<v Speaker 4>collect Trump Cards dot com right now. And remember Christmas

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<v Speaker 4>is coming, and this makes a great Christmas gift.

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<v Speaker 2>And he did all right with that. So then you

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<v Speaker 2>saw later on he launched World Liberty Financial in the

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<v Speaker 2>waning days of the twenty twenty four presidential campaign, and

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<v Speaker 2>that at first just put out a token that allowed

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<v Speaker 2>you to vote on matters concerning World Liberty Financial. I

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<v Speaker 2>didn't convey ownership, you couldn't even sell it up front,

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<v Speaker 2>but they did sell a chunk of those, and then

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<v Speaker 2>right before he was inaugurated again they launched the Mean coin,

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<v Speaker 2>which took off spectacularly, and later on World Liberty Financial

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<v Speaker 2>launched a second product, USD one that that's a stable

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<v Speaker 2>coin pegged to the value of the US dollar and

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<v Speaker 2>supposedly backed one to one with government reserves, and he

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<v Speaker 2>makes money off that by people depositing money, simwhat to

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<v Speaker 2>how a bank makes money. People give him fiat currency

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<v Speaker 2>and then by him World Liberty Financial, World Liberty Financial

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<v Speaker 2>gives him the stable coin, and the whole time that

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<v Speaker 2>stable coin is in circulation, World Liberty Financial earns interest

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<v Speaker 2>on the money that's being made off of it. So

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<v Speaker 2>that's really how he's pulling in all this money from crypto.

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<v Speaker 1>And when he was selling tokens and the lock there

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<v Speaker 1>were perks that people that were purchasing those tokens were

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<v Speaker 1>able to avail himself off. What were some of those

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<v Speaker 1>cycled perks.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so called is a great way of putting it.

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<v Speaker 2>Because there were a lot of complaints. The biggest one

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<v Speaker 2>was a dinner in his DC area golf club where

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<v Speaker 2>he attended. Now they said he was there in his

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<v Speaker 2>personal capacity, but I believe he was behind elector and

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<v Speaker 2>that showed the presidential seal. But he flew in, made

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<v Speaker 2>a couple of remarks and got out of there. So

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<v Speaker 2>there were a lot of people who attended that and

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<v Speaker 2>were upset. There was a similar event recently at Marlago,

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<v Speaker 2>his Florida residence for people who own a lot of it,

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<v Speaker 2>and they've really tried to incentivize people to keep the

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<v Speaker 2>mean coin around. So they've been trying to drive up

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<v Speaker 2>use of the token through selling access and little perks.

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<v Speaker 1>So for the average person trying to get in on

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<v Speaker 1>this record, cryptocurrency is a famously risky investment. So what

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<v Speaker 1>has happened to those who have bought in?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, you know, like so many other cryptocurrencies, the problem

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<v Speaker 2>is not being an insider, you know, and people who

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<v Speaker 2>get into business with Donald Trump. This is a guy

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<v Speaker 2>who's been convicted of business fraud. He's taken several hotels

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<v Speaker 2>to bankruptcy. Like, don't do it, but people did it,

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<v Speaker 2>and you know, figuring, oh, it's the president, We're going

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<v Speaker 2>to do all right. According to Reuter's, people who invested

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<v Speaker 2>in his products lost two point three billion dollars. You know,

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<v Speaker 2>we've just seen the market value of these things crash.

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<v Speaker 2>As we talked about with the mean coin, it was

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<v Speaker 2>its seventy four dollars. Now it's down to a dollar

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<v Speaker 2>seventy eight.

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<v Speaker 1>So the people who.

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<v Speaker 2>Got in early through those sales, they're up but if

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<v Speaker 2>you just bought it when it hit the open market

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<v Speaker 2>and you weren't an a credited investor or a foreigner,

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<v Speaker 2>you're down. You know. It seems like almost everybody who's

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<v Speaker 2>engaged in Trump scrypto schemes after the original interest in

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<v Speaker 2>it has lost most of the.

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<v Speaker 1>Money coming out. Now CRYPTI became my full family business, Zach.

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<v Speaker 1>It isn't just Trump cashing in on all of this.

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<v Speaker 1>It's become a family business now as well, with Millennia

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<v Speaker 1>and his sons. How involved are I and what kind

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<v Speaker 1>of money of I'm iking?

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<v Speaker 2>So Milania is We got some information from her from

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<v Speaker 2>the disclosure because presidents are required to disclose their spouse's income.

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<v Speaker 2>She's done all right, not as well as Donald Trump.

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<v Speaker 2>She made about seven million dollars last year from her

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<v Speaker 2>mean coin, which is really shortly after his. The sons

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<v Speaker 2>are really the ones who are super engaged in this

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<v Speaker 2>with him. In World Liberty Financial, they're both listed his

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<v Speaker 2>co founder. Excuse me, all three of them are listed

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<v Speaker 2>as co founders there and are actively involved in the company.

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<v Speaker 2>Don Junior and Eric are involved in another company called

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<v Speaker 2>American Bitcoin, which minds its own bitcoin. So those guys

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<v Speaker 2>are all in on crypto, and again, according to Forbes,

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<v Speaker 2>we've seen their finances just skyrocket. You know, they were

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<v Speaker 2>worth I think Eric was worth about forty million according

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<v Speaker 2>to Forbes before this presidency. Last they did it in

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<v Speaker 2>late fall, he was worth five hundred million. Donald Trump's

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<v Speaker 2>also seen his networth go up about tenfold. And those

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<v Speaker 2>those numbers are several months old and are almost certainly

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<v Speaker 2>much higher right now. So while they did profit during

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<v Speaker 2>the first presidency, it wasn't a ton, but they are

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<v Speaker 2>out to show that they earned some lessons from the

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<v Speaker 2>first presidency and they are ready to make some money

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<v Speaker 2>off those this time around.

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<v Speaker 1>And a cool sec Trump isn't just passively making money

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<v Speaker 1>from crypto. He's the president of the United States, which

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<v Speaker 1>maintain and create rules and conditions that help these investments thrive.

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<v Speaker 1>Is that what has happened here? What is the administration

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<v Speaker 1>done on that front to affect the value of this cryptocurrency.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's really convenient to be launching crypto ventures while

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<v Speaker 2>also oversee the regulatory system of the United States. In

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<v Speaker 2>that regard, we've seen pardons to business partners in the

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<v Speaker 2>crypto most significantly cz in Binance. They are incredibly important

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<v Speaker 2>to world liberty financial helping it set up the plumbing

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<v Speaker 2>that got it running, churning trades to make it look

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<v Speaker 2>like it was more active than it was, having incentives

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<v Speaker 2>for people to keep it in their account and actually

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<v Speaker 2>holding a significant amount amount of it for themselves. Lest

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<v Speaker 2>I checked of the stable coin the usc one, eighty

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<v Speaker 2>seven percent of it was held at binance and finance

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<v Speaker 2>is banned from the United States, so that means, if

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<v Speaker 2>the rules are being followed, eighty seven percent of it

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<v Speaker 2>is an overseas hands. But you know, finance CZ got partned,

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<v Speaker 2>and there were a whole bunch of other investigations that

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<v Speaker 2>got dropped, justin Sun being amongst them. You're seeing all

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<v Speaker 2>sorts of benefits to crypto exchanges that have listed his

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<v Speaker 2>currencies for trade. And yeah, with regulation, we passed a

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<v Speaker 2>stable coin bill and it is set up perfectly for

0:12:15.760 --> 0:12:17.559
<v Speaker 2>his stable coin. You know, it kind of decapped a

0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:21.120
<v Speaker 2>lot of the competitors that maybe weren't as prepared with

0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:24.679
<v Speaker 2>reserves as his was, but his is you know, his,

0:12:24.760 --> 0:12:26.479
<v Speaker 2>His was okay, no surprise.

0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:28.680
<v Speaker 1>From a decent approbably eight in close up Zech, A

0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:32.040
<v Speaker 1>lot of this looks like it's clearly a conflict of

0:12:32.080 --> 0:12:36.040
<v Speaker 1>interests clearly corruption. But is any of it illegal and

0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:39.240
<v Speaker 1>is there any iris sought or investigation into this at all?

0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:43.200
<v Speaker 2>Apparently Yeah, from a late person's look, it is clearly

0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:46.760
<v Speaker 2>a conflict of interest. By law, the president cannot have

0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:49.560
<v Speaker 2>conflicts of interest. I mean that is explicitly stated that

0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:52.480
<v Speaker 2>the president and the vice president cannot have conflicts of interest.

0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:57.120
<v Speaker 2>The constitution does preclude the president from receiving money from

0:12:57.120 --> 0:13:00.839
<v Speaker 2>foreign governments. That was never really put to the test

0:13:01.160 --> 0:13:04.720
<v Speaker 2>in our entire history. We haven't really got a definitive

0:13:04.720 --> 0:13:06.839
<v Speaker 2>case law on that. There was a look at you

0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:09.400
<v Speaker 2>there's some cases during Trump's first term that looked at it,

0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:12.400
<v Speaker 2>but they never got resolved. So we don't know if

0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:16.480
<v Speaker 2>Donald Trump accepting tens of millions of dollars from a

0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:21.080
<v Speaker 2>company backed by the spymaster of the UAE counts. And

0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:24.520
<v Speaker 2>you know, right now, Republicans hold both chambers of our Congress,

0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:27.000
<v Speaker 2>and they are not investigating, you know, as angry as

0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:31.240
<v Speaker 2>they were about Hunter Biden and some of his apparent wrongdoing,

0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:32.559
<v Speaker 2>which was not great.

0:13:32.840 --> 0:13:33.640
<v Speaker 1>He was Jordy.

0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:36.280
<v Speaker 2>He was clearly cashing in on his dad's name. The

0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:38.880
<v Speaker 2>amount of what Hunter Biden did and got the Republicans

0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:42.480
<v Speaker 2>so upset about is minuscule compared to what the Trumps

0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:44.880
<v Speaker 2>are doing. One thing I think a lot of us

0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:47.959
<v Speaker 2>take hope is we saw what happened in Hungary where

0:13:48.760 --> 0:13:52.600
<v Speaker 2>corruption was just such a major issue there to drive

0:13:52.640 --> 0:13:56.880
<v Speaker 2>out an entrenched power that you're hearing Democrats saying, Okay,

0:13:56.880 --> 0:13:59.959
<v Speaker 2>we think this corruption is going to play like this,

0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:02.720
<v Speaker 2>and polls are showing that it is resonating with voters.

0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:06.040
<v Speaker 2>The issue again is that it's hard to make a

0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:08.280
<v Speaker 2>lot of these people who've lost money to Donald Trump

0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:11.160
<v Speaker 2>seem sympathetic and that, you know, to the rest of

0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:14.760
<v Speaker 2>the country, and that they're Trump supporters who put money

0:14:14.800 --> 0:14:17.440
<v Speaker 2>in a guy who's got a reputation of not being

0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:18.200
<v Speaker 2>a great investment.

0:14:18.600 --> 0:14:21.760
<v Speaker 1>And finally, Zach one, are the broader ethical implications of

0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:24.600
<v Speaker 1>Trump cashing in on the presidency like this, are we

0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:27.560
<v Speaker 1>opening a Pandora's box here when it comes to how

0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:30.280
<v Speaker 1>political pal could be monetized in the United States?

0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:34.680
<v Speaker 2>That box was opened during his first term, when he

0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:39.400
<v Speaker 2>didn't suffer any consequences for how he monetized the office

0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:43.640
<v Speaker 2>there that paled in comparison to what he's done this term.

0:14:43.920 --> 0:14:45.800
<v Speaker 2>You know, the thought would be that Joe Biden and

0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:48.720
<v Speaker 2>the Democrats would come in, they would have some power.

0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:51.520
<v Speaker 2>They would say, Okay, here's what Donald Trump did, Here's

0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:53.680
<v Speaker 2>how he got away with it. You know, yes, okay,

0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:56.440
<v Speaker 2>this was never done before, but it was legal. Let's

0:14:56.480 --> 0:14:58.840
<v Speaker 2>try to close that loophole. Let's put in some rules here.

0:14:59.200 --> 0:15:02.120
<v Speaker 2>And they did nothing of the sort, and there was

0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:03.960
<v Speaker 2>no really reckoning with what he did. So when he

0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:06.400
<v Speaker 2>came back into power, it's all out there again.

0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:07.480
<v Speaker 1>You know.

0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:10.880
<v Speaker 2>My hope is that now is just so watantly obvious

0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:15.440
<v Speaker 2>and so massive that whomever takes power after Donald Trump,

0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:17.560
<v Speaker 2>we will go ahead and say, okay, yes, we need

0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:20.040
<v Speaker 2>to get some checks put in here, because we have

0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:24.000
<v Speaker 2>seen somebody absolutely exploit these rules and we can't let

0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:26.200
<v Speaker 2>that happen again. But that's my hope.

0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:29.680
<v Speaker 1>Well, I think it's many people's hopes. Zax. Thank you

0:15:29.720 --> 0:15:31.040
<v Speaker 1>so much for joining us.

0:15:31.360 --> 0:15:32.760
<v Speaker 2>Thanks for having me on, Daniel.

0:15:42.800 --> 0:15:46.360
<v Speaker 1>All someone us Shadow Assistant Finance min Is to Simon

0:15:46.440 --> 0:15:49.480
<v Speaker 1>Kennedy says the Albinezy government is crumbling to the gambling

0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:53.160
<v Speaker 1>lobby as it introduces its gambling aed reform into Parliament.

0:15:53.720 --> 0:15:56.800
<v Speaker 1>The Coalition, the Grains and the crossbenches are all pushing

0:15:56.800 --> 0:15:59.360
<v Speaker 1>for changes to the bill, which limits TV and radio

0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:02.960
<v Speaker 1>ads only certain times and creates an opt out feature

0:16:03.000 --> 0:16:06.640
<v Speaker 1>for online platforms. The legislation will now be sent to

0:16:06.680 --> 0:16:10.280
<v Speaker 1>an eight week Senate inquiry, and a United Nations scientific

0:16:10.320 --> 0:16:13.800
<v Speaker 1>panel has released its first global report and Artificial Intelligence.

0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:19.280
<v Speaker 1>The report, compiled by forty experts, say AI could transform healthcare,

0:16:19.600 --> 0:16:23.920
<v Speaker 1>hunger relief, education, and climate action if used responsibly, but

0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:27.120
<v Speaker 1>the technology is advancing faster than governments can regulate it.

0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:31.080
<v Speaker 1>The report also says power is increasingly concentrated in the

0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:34.120
<v Speaker 1>hands of a few companies and countries, with the United

0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:37.520
<v Speaker 1>States controlling seventy five percent of computing power in the

0:16:37.520 --> 0:16:41.640
<v Speaker 1>world's largest AI clusters. I'm Daniel James. Thanks once again

0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:45.840
<v Speaker 1>for listening to seven AM. We'll be back tomorrow.