Americans disgusted at Trump earning $1bn from crypto as president: ‘Obviously a grift’

Donald Trump has earned more than $1bn from his crypto businesses since returning to the White House, according to recent financial disclosures.

Amid questions of conflict of interest, more than 400 Americans expressed feelings of outrage, disgust and despair at their president. They answered a Guardian call for their views on Trump’s fortune.

According to a 927-page document released on Tuesday by the US Office of Government Ethics, in all, the US president made more than $2.2bn last year. He benefited from a vast global network of investments and businesses that range from real estate and golf courses to royalty deals and Trump-branded products such as cologne. He also took tens of millions of dollars in court settlements.

In his second term, the president and his family have invested heavily in digital money and crypto businesses, with Trump announcing at the start of last year that he wanted the US to be the “crypto capital of the world”. He has received about $1.1bn from his World Liberty Financial and CIC Digital LLC businesses, which sell “governance tokens” and souvenir-type “memecoins” stamped with his face. Critics accuse him of selling access to the presidency.

Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, said: “Neither the president nor his family has ever engaged – or will ever engage – in conflicts of interest.”

Asked about the earnings on CNBC, Trump brushed off the concerns: “I’ve always made money. I’m a business person. I’m a really good business person.” He said his son Eric handles his business matters and: “I don’t talk to him about things such as this.”

Gregg Savajian, a 72-year-old veteran living in Washington state, saw it a different way.

“It’s an insult to working-class Americans, obviously a grift,” he said, adding that he was “terrified of our future” as a country.

Gregg Savajian, a 72-year-old veteran living in Washington state. Photograph: supplied

The Guardian asked people in the US for their views on the multi-billion-dollar expansion of Trump’s fortune while in office. More than 400 responded to express concerns of corruption and greed in the White House. They contrasted Trump’s billions with everyday Americans’ struggles as inflation and the cost of living continue to rise.

“Trump cares about two things, and two things only: himself and money,” said Kathe Rhoades, a retired technical writer in Arlington, Massachusetts. “Why the US apparently has no laws against the president, and his family, raking in millions of dollars through questionable dealings at home and abroad is utterly beyond me.”

Brad Windsor, a 70-year-old retired firefighter in Ojai, California who registered as an independent voter, was likewise concerned about a lack of guardrails against Trump’s business dealings while in office.

“This is blatant corruption, as are many of his other business dealings and stock trades. Congress should act to male it illegal,” he said.

Daniel Oberhauser, a 47-year-old government worker in Saint Paul, Minnesota, said Trump’s ballooning fortune was “depressing and exhausting”. Oberhauser said he felt a squeeze from rising costs, even as a self-described member of the middle class.

“I’m one of the lucky ones, and I’m still counting pennies while my president is earning billions while stomping on the backs of Americans,” he said.

Jay Deshpande, a 22-year-old Indian-American man, felt dispirited as a student looking for work when he learned that Trump had made more than two billion dollars.

“His earnings are ridiculously high, and speaks to the level of corruption and greed that defines Trump’s presidency. For a man who promised to be with the people, he has proven time and time again that he is only in it for himself and his robber baron friends,” he said.

Mark Boettcher, a 60-year-old pediatrician in Janesville, Wisconsin, said frustration over the Trump administration’s actions and “the US health system, insurance failures, vaccination resistance” had led him to retire early. He found the contrast between Trump’s extreme wealth and many Americans’ difficulty affording healthcare to be “obscene”.

“It is an embarrassment that our system allows such corruption and wealth to be exploited by the top 1%, upon the backs of children who are not receiving proper education and healthcare,” he said.

Mark Boettcher, 60, in Janesville, Wisconsin. Photograph: supplied

Andrea Jacoby Brandy, a 67-year-old mother of three and grandmother of five in Perrysburg, Ohio, described Trump as “greedy and cruel” for raking in billions while cutting healthcare with his “big beautiful bill”.

“The idea that Donald Trump is making a profit off the government he oversees is disgusting,” she said.

Millie, a substitute teacher in Colorado, saw Trump’s in-office business dealings as befitting of the “billionaire caste”.

“Like other members of his caste, he’s utterly unconcerned with affordability or the financial situations of those who elected him,” she said. “We’re not getting the government we want, but the one we deserve, as Mr Trump does what his caste does – take.

Millie, a substitute teacher in Colorado. Photograph: supplied

Linda Stuart, a 73-year-old retired science educator in Texas, said she was concerned whether American democracy could survive the growing divide between haves and have-nots.

“As we struggle to pay our bills, buy our gas, afford our rent, search desperately for insurance we can afford, and worry constantly about whether we’ll get social security or not, it is sickening and disgusting at how Trump and his family are lining their pockets,” she said.

Laurie Rivera, a librarian in New Mexico, worried that weakened democratic institutions would hurt her children’s future.

“I am concerned that my children are inheriting a compromised democracy, and this sends a very distressing image of humanity to their children,” she said.

Laurie Rivera, a librarian in New Mexico Photograph: Supplied

Elise, a 21-year-old medicine student and self-described “farm girl” in Nebraska, said the high gas and grocery prices of Trump’s president as well as cuts to rural healthcare had significantly disadvantaged her family, who all voted for Trump. She said her father and brother suffered from lack of access after an accident and a psychotic episode. Amid her family’s struggle, she said Trump’s profits left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Elise, a 21-year-old medicine student and self-described ‘farm girl’ in Nebraska. Photograph: supplied

“We are not doing well. We are so much worse than we were before Trump’s presidency. Meanwhile, this absolutely abhorrent maelstrom of a man is profiting from his position. From our pain. He doesn’t care about the lack of doctors in Nebraska or rural folks having difficulties affording gasoline or food. He does not care about us,” she said.