Trump on crypto earnings: 'I could know about it. I didn't'

[0:00] What if a Democratic — the next time a Democrat is elected president, and you have [0:06] — the executive branch has all this expanded power that you have gotten? [0:09] Well, then they have got it. [0:10] Don't you worry they will undo some of your policies at that point? [0:14] I can only speak for myself. [0:16] It's necessary. [0:17] Worry about what's now? [0:18] Yeah. [0:19] I mean, look, it's necessary. [0:20] It's actually an honor to have won that, because every president since FDR has been trying [0:25] to get that back. [0:27] And I got it back. [0:28] That's a big deal. [0:29] The checkpoint. [0:30] Along the same lines, if the Democrats take the House and, you know, I want you to succeed [0:38] as president, I want a businessman to run the country. [0:42] And all along, you entered as a billionaire businessman, which was unprecedented. [0:47] I think George Washington owned a lot of land, but no one's ever — I think JFK had a trust [0:51] fund — but no one's ever been as wealthy as you. [0:54] And you obviously know how to run a business. [0:57] And that, I think, informs the way you run the country, obviously. [1:00] Now, many people argue business experience is needed in government. [1:04] And we have seen the stock market in the first term and the second term. [1:07] I think it's been rewarded to have a businessman in there. [1:10] So, I think we shouldn't be surprised that your businesses are doing well. [1:17] But how would you counter critics that say you're using the presidency to enrich yourself [1:23] and your family? [1:24] JOHN DENNERY GOOSEY, President, U.S. [1:25] Well, in a lot of ways, if you think about it, the stock has gone up so much, the stock [1:29] market today. [1:30] It's up 500 points. [1:32] It's up to almost 53,000. [1:36] You know, I watched your show. [1:37] And you had somebody on, one of your brilliant analysts, and they said if I had won the election, [1:43] they said if President Trump could get the stock market to anywhere near 50,000, that would [1:49] be an unbelievable achievement. [1:51] And that was over four years. [1:52] In other words, at the end of his term, four years, if he could get anywhere near 50,000, [1:57] that would be... [1:58] Well, it's at 53,000, just a couple of points short of 53,000 right now. [2:04] And that's essentially after a little bit more than a year. [2:07] JEFFREY BROWNMANN But do you worry that, if they take—if the Democrats were to win [2:10] the House, that there's going to be endless investigations of you and your administration? [2:14] RONALD TRUMPMANN Well, you know, I don't do anything having to do with my business. [2:18] My kids run it. [2:19] I put a lot of money. [2:20] I had a lot of money. [2:21] And I have a lot of money. [2:22] And I've always made... [2:23] I've made money. [2:24] You know, I'm a businessperson. [2:26] I'm a really good businessperson. [2:28] I've made money. [2:29] I've made a tremendous amount of money, more than I would have ever thought I would [2:33] have made. [2:35] And I let people invest it. [2:36] I don't even speak to... [2:37] I don't even know who they are. [2:39] But it's given to big firms, like that are on your show all the time. [2:43] My son, Eric, handles it. [2:45] I don't talk to him about things such as this. [2:48] I think I'd be allowed to. [2:48] I'm not sure even what the status is, but I don't. [2:51] And he gives it into these, like, semi-blind trusts or blind trusts where people invest. [2:58] There was a story today about Jensen Wang, who's fantastic, NVIDIA, and that I have some [3:06] stock. [3:07] I think it's very small. [3:08] I think it's one of many companies that one of the big Wall Street firms invest in. [3:13] And so they said, oh, Trump has some stock in there. [3:16] I don't care about that. [3:17] How about crypto? [3:18] You know why I don't care? [3:19] Yeah. [3:20] Because I have a much bigger purpose. [3:23] You know, this is the Oval Office. [3:24] It's a much bigger purpose than whether or not I make money. [3:27] As an example, the president is the highest-paid person in government. [3:33] And, you know, by some standards, he gets a lot of money. [3:38] I don't—I'm the only president, they say, that's ever given up my—I gave up my salary. [3:43] Right. [3:44] I don't get a salary. [3:46] I gave it up. [3:47] And that's a lot of—you know, by some standards, that's a lot of money. [3:51] But making money in the stock market, that makes sense. [3:53] So, as far as crypto goes—and I'm just wondering, you didn't divest your business. [3:59] You have your sons running it. [4:01] I think vice presidents and presidents aren't subject, really, to conflict of interest laws. [4:07] But there's this notion that you need to be aware of conflict of interest. [4:11] Yeah. [4:12] There was a large sum of money made in crypto. [4:15] Did you know that your family business was going to engage in crypto? [4:19] Did you have anything— [4:20] Well, I was here before—I was there before I was in office. [4:24] But the way I view crypto is a little differently. [4:27] We have to be at the top. [4:29] Right. [4:30] Otherwise, China is going to take it over. [4:31] Like, for instance, AI, we're leading substantially in AI over China and everybody else. [4:36] I mean, we're leading. [4:38] When I was with President Xi three weeks ago, he greeted me in these first words. [4:43] I mean, literally went, wow, you've really done a great job. [4:46] You've really—because this country was dead. [4:48] We had a dead country. [4:49] Now we have the hottest country in the world. [4:51] And the way I look at AI or the way I look at crypto is, if we're not going to do it, [4:56] China is going to get it, most likely China. [4:57] No doubt. [4:58] But somebody else. [4:59] Japan is somebody else. [5:01] And I want to—it's a big industry. [5:03] Chipto, if you call it an industry, but it's a big deal. [5:06] And crypto is a big deal. [5:08] You look at it, the way it's grown over the years. [5:11] You have believers. [5:12] You don't have believers. [5:13] You know, whatever it is. [5:14] But it's a big deal. [5:17] And anything we do, I want to be number one in. [5:22] And we're number one in crypto, and we're also number one in AI. [5:25] In the disclosure this week, the amount of money that you and the family made in crypto, [5:30] it was an outsized number. [5:31] I was just asking, did you—were you know about the crypto venture? [5:36] So that was just something that— [5:37] By the way, I could know about it. [5:39] I didn't. [5:40] That's what I said. [5:41] Right. [5:42] I mean, there's nothing illegal. [5:43] There's nothing wrong with it. [5:44] I could know.