Plenty of people love to argue about the politics of the Trump family, but if you want to understand what’s really going on, you have to look at the math.
Since the 2024 election, the family has launched or heavily promoted a slew of new financial ventures. The marketing pitches are always massive, promising to revolutionize finance or media.
But as an investor, you shouldn’t care about the marketing. You need to care about the mechanics of the deal.
I’ve looked at the recent financial filings and market data from early 2026. The verdict is consistent across the board. The Trump family has structured these businesses so they get paid immediately through licensing fees and revenue cuts. Meanwhile, the everyday investors funding these projects are largely losing their shirts.
Here is exactly how the flagship projects are performing for the people who actually bought in.
The crypto machine: World Liberty Financial
Shortly after the 2024 election, the Trump family consolidated control over a new cryptocurrency project called World Liberty Financial. They raised an eye-watering $550 million by selling tokens to investors.
If you bought into the hype, you might be wondering when you get your cut. The short answer is that the founders get paid first. According to recent reporting by Reuters, a holding company controlled by the Trump family is entitled to 75% of the net revenue from those token sales. That means roughly $400 million of the raised funds is earmarked directly for the family’s entity.
What do the investors get? They receive WLFI governance tokens. The catch is that these tokens currently cannot be publicly traded. You own a token that lets you vote on protocol changes, but you can’t easily cash it out to pay your mortgage.
The platform also recently launched a stablecoin called USD1. In late February 2026, the company reported it had to repel a coordinated short-selling attack that temporarily knocked the coin off its dollar peg. The platform survived the stress test, but the reality remains that the family secured hundreds of millions in guaranteed revenue while retail buyers are holding locked tokens in a volatile market.
(Related: “3 Reasons I Hate Crypto — and 3 Reasons I Own It Anyway“)
The stock market play: Trump Media (DJT)
Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, went public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger. The stock has been a roller coaster, but for anyone who bought and held over the last year, it’s been a steep drop.
As of early March 2026, DJT stock is hovering around $10 to $11 a share. That is down more than 50% over the past year.
The company released its full-year 2025 earnings in late February, and the numbers are staggering. According to financial data, the company generated just $3.7 million in total revenue for the entire year. Yet, it reported a massive net loss of $712 million, driven heavily by write-downs on digital assets.
Here is where the disconnect between the company and the retail investor becomes painfully obvious. Despite the massive net loss and terrible stock performance, Trump Media is currently sitting on approximately $2.5 billion in financial assets and actually managed to squeeze out a positive operating cash flow of $14.8 million.
The company is rich. The executives are well compensated. But the everyday investors who bought the stock at $40 or $50 a share are sitting on massive, potentially permanent losses.
(Related: “Crypto Meets Your 401(k): A Risk Too Big for Retirement?“)
The digital collectibles: Trump NFTs
Before the current crypto push, there was the digital trading card craze.
When the first series of Trump NFTs launched, a few quick traders made a profit flipping them on the secondary market.
But like most fads, the music eventually stopped. If you bought into the later collections — like Series 2 or the 2024 America First Collection — you are likely sitting on a dud. Secondary market trading volume for these assets has completely flatlined.
Did the Trump family lose money when the NFT market crashed? Absolutely not. Financial disclosures from 2024 showed that President Donald Trump personally walked away with over $7.15 million in guaranteed licensing fees from the digital card sales.
He essentially rented out his likeness, collected his multimillion-dollar check, and left the buyers to figure out what to do with a digital image nobody else wants to buy.
The lesson here applies to almost any celebrity or politician pushing a financial product. Always look at the fee structure. If the founder is taking 75% of the revenue upfront, or pulling millions in licensing fees before the product even proves its worth, you aren’t an investor. You’re a mark.
