All the president’s side hustles

Today, Explained

Vox

Daily News, Politics, News

4.4 • 9.5K Ratings

🗓️ 15 May 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Ethical concerns abound on the president's first big trip to the Middle East since reentering office. But if you really want conflicts of interest, take a look at his crypto projects. This episode was produced by Victoria Chamberlin, edited by Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Andrea Kristinsdottir and Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram. Listen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. Transcript at vox.com/today-explained-podcast. A billboard featuring President Donald Trump holding Bitcoin in Hong Kong. Photo by May James/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Donald Trump's in the Middle East doing the kinds of things you might expect a U.S. President to do while in the Middle East.
0:06.0	He's been shaking hands with leaders, posing for photos. Here's some Fox News coverage.
0:11.0	Tall people in the Middle East I've noticed.
0:13.0	MBS is quite tall. The Prime Minister is quite tall himself.
0:17.0	Donald's been doing diplomacy. He made a big announcement on Tuesday.
0:21.6	I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance
0:27.6	at greatness.
0:28.6	And on Wednesday, Trump met with Syria's new president, Ahmed al-Shara, a former al-Qaeda leader,
0:34.6	who used to be on the U.S. terror list, I might add.
0:39.9	Young, attractive guy, tough guy.
0:43.6	But while in the Middle East, and before he even got there, the president and his family have also been doing things you'd never expect a U.S. president and his family to do,
0:48.8	making hotel deals, golf course deals, plane gift deals, crypto deals, all the president's side hustles on today explained.
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	...

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