Donald Trump, who decades ago described himself as “a bit of a P.T. Barnum,” has finally found his most lucrative act: being president.
He took in $2.4 billion last year, according to a Forbes analysis, which overlayed his financial disclosure report with bond filings, securities documents and court records to pinpoint a more specific number than the “at least $2.2 billion” widely reported in recent weeks. The $2.4 billion figure, a combination of operating revenue and proceeds from asset sales, dwarfs the estimated $760 million Trump received in 2024. It is also 6,000 times the current U.S. presidential salary of $400,000.
Trump seems to sense that political profiteering is not a good look. Asked about his recent windfall, he demurred, “I’ve made a lot of money before I became president,” then added, “You know why I’m profiting? Because the stock market is going up.”
Not really.
The $2.4 billion figure does not include proceeds from his stock sales, which appear to have been largely reinvested into the market. Most of the year-over year increase, $1.4 billion, comes from cryptocurrency, an industry Trump once described as “based on thin air” but has since gleefully peddled to unwitting supporters, many of whom have suffered catastrophic losses on their investments.
Beyond that, the president also hauled in extraordinary sums from Mar-a-Lago and his international licensing business.
The Receipts
Donald Trump’s business exploded in 2025, as he capitalized on his comeback.
Trump, whose representatives did not respond to requests for comment, wasn’t always so coy about profiting from politics. “It’s very possible,” he told Fortune 26 years ago, “that I could be the first presidential candidate to run and make money on it.” In 2016, the year before he first took office, Trump’s business generated an estimated $610 million. Once in power, he tried—initially with limited success—to make money from his new position.
Some parts of his business benefited (Mar-a-Lago) while others struggled (a product-licensing empire selling menswear and mattresses). The effects partially offset, and Trump’s top line plateaued around $650 million from 2017 to 2019. Covid shook things up. Revenue fell to about $450 million, and Trump ultimately lost the presidency.
That turned out to be a good thing for his business. He spent his years in exile reworking his portfolio in a way that left it perfectly positioned to capitalize on a political comeback. Sure, his brand had become too polarized to reliably sell shirts, ties and hotel rooms to the masses. But his hardcore supporters offered a more reliable customer base, willing to shell out for anything he sold.
They bought Bibles for $100, watches for $500 and, most importantly, investments in hastily spun-up ventures that achieved multibillion-dollar valuations fueled by little more than belief.
This did not all happen at once. In 2021, the Trump Organization generated an estimated $560 million as it emerged from the pandemic. In 2022, Trump offloaded his very famous, very unprofitable hotel in Washington, D.C., providing about $260 million of his total $910 million for the year. He generated an estimated $755 million in 2023.
In the most recent election year, 2024, Trump collected about $760 million. Roughly $60 million of that came from selling crypto tokens connected to a new venture, World Liberty Financial, which only really took off after he won the White House. About $60 million came from an international licensing business and nearly $80 million from Mar-a-Lago, both boosted by the prospect of a second Trump term. Without those politically driven windfalls, Trump’s 2024 haul would have been closer to $650 million, or about what he generated during his first term.
As Trump returned to the White House in 2025, crypto prices soared, largely thanks to the president’s cozy promise to treat the industry kindly. Three days before taking office, the president-elect launched a memecoin. The fine print told buyers that the offering should not be considered an investment. Plenty invested anyway, not just in the memecoin but also in World Liberty’s token. The memecoin ultimately delivered about $635 million to Trump in 2025, and World Liberty provided nearly $800 million more.
Trump’s crypto offerings have since plummeted from their peaks, with the memecoin down 98%, a useful reminder that his personal windfall did not come from wise policy, presidential genius or a rising market lifting all boats.
Instead, it resulted from a branding campaign with Oval Office lighting, now reaching its natural conclusion. In the end, lousy products are just that—even if marketed by the president of the United States.
-With additional reporting by Andrew Balaban.
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