Trump says outside funds “manage my money” as disclosure shows billions in 2025 income

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump brushed off the staggering amounts reported in his huge 2025 financial disclosure, saying his investment decisions are made by outsiders and that he profits only because the stock market is rising.

“I’m not involved in my own personal — we have funds that are taking care of my money,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews as he prepared to board a large jet gifted by Qatar and refitted as a new Air Force One.

He said he does not speak with the firms managing his money: “I never — I don’t even talk to them.” Trump described the arrangement as funds investing on his behalf and said “they’re running it.”

Asked how Americans should view his extremely profitable first year back in the White House, Trump said he had “made a lot of money” and that “they invested my money.” He added that he does not even speak with the people running the funds and called them “big institutions.”

CNBC analysis: 2025 income at least $2.24 billion, up from 2024

According to CNBC’s analysis of his annual disclosure forms, Trump reported at least $2.24 billion in income last year, compared with at least $622 million in 2024. The jump was driven mainly by roughly $1.2 billion in crypto-related income disclosed in his 927-page filing.

About $580 million of the crypto income was tied to World Liberty Financial, a company co-founded by Trump family members that issues the WLFI governance token and the USD1 stablecoin. World Liberty launched USD1 in March 2025 after Trump began his nonconsecutive second presidential term.

Trump also disclosed $635 million in royalties from so-called “celebration coins,” tied to CIC Digital LLC, his memecoin business.

Trump again said he does not directly manage this money, describing the setup as a “blind account” in which managers receive his funds and invest them.

Trump brushes off criticism: when markets rise, everyone makes money

When asked how he responds to critics who say he is profiting from the presidency, Trump said: “Well, you know why I’m making money? Because the stock market is going up, and everybody’s making money.”

He added that 54.4% of Americans are invested in the stock market, according to Securities and Exchange Commission data, and argued that he is making money because he has cash and gives it to institutions that buy broad-based assets.

Disclosure also shows large stock trades and possible conflict-of-interest questions

The sprawling financial filing also showed Trump bought and sold shares of hundreds of companies. Some individual trades were worth millions of dollars, with the largest valued between $5 million and $25 million.

Some stock trades occurred around major news announcements involving the companies in question. For example, the form shows Trump bought Amazon stock worth $500,000 to $1 million on Sept. 23, the same day a federal antitrust trial began accusing Amazon of steering customers into Prime membership fees.

His earlier financial disclosure report, released in May and covering the first three months of 2026, raised concerns about possible conflicts of interest, which the White House denied.

White House press secretary Anna Kelly said in an email to CNBC on Wednesday that the president and his family have never engaged in, and never will engage in, conflicts of interest.

Kelly’s statement also emphasized that the president is making “America the crypto capital of the world” through executive actions and referenced policies such as the GENIUS Act. She said questions over whether Trump’s actions serve Americans’ best interests rest on the “same old false narrative” pushed for a decade.

Trump brushed off the conflict-of-interest issue Wednesday morning.