Trump punts criticism of business income to kids
Jul. 2, 2026, 6:28 PM EDTPresident Donald Trump sought to dismiss criticism that he has unfairlyprofited from his presidencyduring an Oval Office interview with CNBC on Thursday, arguing that his children are. . .
Jul. 2, 2026, 6:28 PM EDTPresident Donald Trump sought to dismiss criticism that he has unfairlyprofited from his presidencyduring an Oval Office interview with CNBC on Thursday, arguing that his children are responsible for running the family’s businesses. “I don’t do anything having to do with my business. My kids run it,” Trump told CNBC’s Joe Kernen, co-host of “Squawk Box,” when asked about the criticism. Trump said that his son Eric Trump handles managing his investments and that he feels “badly, in a way, for my kids” because of the scrutiny they are under. The president’s comments came days after therelease of his financial disclosures, which showed that he reported more than $2 billion in income since returning to the White House. The largest share of those funds came frommore than $1. 4 billionin cryptocurrency-related income, including $500 million coming from World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency company he co-founded in 2024 with his sonsEric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. Democrats aren’t the only ones criticizing the president over his finances. The Wall Street Journal’s conservative editorial boardwrote in an op-edon Wednesday that the president and his family “are profiting off the Presidency in ways that demean the office. ”Tax experts have also suggestthe amount of money the president has made in this role is historically unprecedented. Asked about the crypto-related income on CNBC, the president insisted that he was not aware of it, but added, “There’s nothing wrong with it. ”CNBC is owned by Versant Media, the parent company of MS NOW. The president also reported another $635 million in income tied to sales of the$TRUMP meme coin, along with hundreds of millions of dollars from his properties, including $122 million from Trump Doral, $77. 5 million from Mar-a-Lago and $39 million from Trump Tower Chicago. The disclosure also reported more than $80 million from legal settlements with media companies, and more than $8 million in royalties from books and branded merchandise. The president said Thursday that he believes his business acumen is “one of the reasons I got elected. ”Julianne McShane is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW who also covers the politics of abortion and reproductive rights. You can send her tips from a non-work device on Signal at jmcshane. 19 or follow her on X or Bluesky.