Trump family reaps roughly 300 million dollars from Middle East deals in 2025
Gulf entities paid President Donald Trump's businesses about 300 million dollars last year, more than any other foreign region in his newly released financial disclosures
Trump received 263 million dollars from the sale of half his stake in World Liberty Financial, according to disclosures released Tuesday. The Wall Street Journal reported in January that the previously secret deal involved an entity backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a top UAE royal and brother of the country's president.
The remainder of the Gulf total came from two Middle East developers who have built a series of Trump-branded towers and golf courses in the region over the past three years.
Foreign licensing deals have surged in recent years for the Trump Organization after years of slow business, following a pledge to halt foreign deals during Trump's first administration. Revenue reached only 9 million dollars in 2022 and 8 million dollars in 2023, before jumping to 45 million dollars in 2024 as Trump neared a return to the White House and 59 million dollars in 2025, with other projects underway in India, Vietnam, and Romania.
World Liberty has also proved lucrative beyond the equity sale, with Trump reporting more than 500 million dollars in proceeds from token sales tied to the company, though the value of those tokens has since plummeted. The venture, founded in 2024 by the Trump and Witkoff families along with other cryptocurrency entrepreneurs, initially gave Trump and his relatives a 75 percent stake before they sold half of it to the Tahnoon-backed entity.
Run by US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff's son Zach, the company's main business is in stablecoins, a cryptocurrency tied to the US dollar, with users holding more than 4.6 billion dollars worth, positioning World Liberty to earn tens of millions of dollars annually in interest.
The Middle East windfall came from a region central to Trump's foreign policy, as he launched a war against Iran, backed Israel's campaign in Gaza, and pushed Gulf nations toward major US investment. Qatar gifted Trump a plane that recently entered service as Air Force One, while Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE committed to large investment deals in the US.
Trump's overall crypto income last year exceeded 1.4 billion dollars, with nearly 800 million dollars coming from World Liberty Financial and 635 million dollars from sales of his Trump-branded meme coin. Golf and resort revenue rose 15 percent to just over 500 million dollars, with Mar-a-Lago revenue nearly doubling to 77 million dollars. The memecoin windfall came even as an estimated 764,000 crypto wallets, mostly small holders, lost money on the token, according to Chainalysis data.
Trump dismissed questions about his earnings this week, saying he leaves investment decisions to others. "I don't know if I had a better career in politics or business," he said. "But I had a great career in business. And you saw the cash."
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly denied any conflicts of interest, saying Trump has stopped foreign countries from taking advantage of the US and has brought in investments that create jobs.