The Crypto President: Part 1

The Journal.

The Wall Street Journal

Daily News, Business News, News

4.2 • 5.8K Ratings

🗓️ 24 April 2026

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

At the height of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign for re-election in 2024, Trump gathered with his sons and longtime friend Steve Witkoff to launch a new money machine: a crypto company called World Liberty Financial. Since its launch less than two years ago, the company has earned the Trump family at least $1.2 billion dollars. It turns out much of that has come from secret business dealings with foreign-owned companies. In the first of two episodes diving into World Liberty Financial, WSJ’s Angus Berwick explains how a billionaire felon boosted Trump’s crypto company en route to a presidential pardon. Hosted by Jessica Mendoza. Further Listening: - Big Banks vs. Big Crypto - Severed Fingers and Wrench Attacks: A New Era in Crypto Crime Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey everyone, it's Jess.
0:02.1	And Ryan, a quick heads up before we begin.
0:04.7	Our next live show is just days away.
0:07.1	It's happening Tuesday, April 28th.
0:09.9	The journal podcast is going to be in Los Angeles at the L. Ray Theater.
0:13.7	We'll have Oscar and Emmy winner Riz Ahmed.
0:16.4	And TV and film producer Franklin Leonard, who created The Blacklist.
0:20.9	We'll be talking about the future of Hollywood, plus a few other fun surprises.
0:24.5	And there's still a few tickets left, so grab yours now.
0:28.2	Find the link in our show notes.
0:30.1	See you there, April 28th.
0:31.9	Can't wait to meet you.
0:46.8	Join me live on Twitter Spaces at 8 p.m. the September 16th for the launch of World Liberty Financial.
0:54.3	In September of 2024, in the final months of Donald Trump's presidential campaign for re-election,
0:59.0	he sat down in front of a mic and camera in the library at Mar-a-Lago.
1:04.3	He was launching a new crypto company, World Liberty Financial.
1:07.8	It's a fledgling business, and yet it's a massive business,
1:10.8	but it has a chance to really be something special.
1:15.6	Also at the announcement was Trump's longtime friend, Steve Whitkoff. The people, Steve Whitkoff, a great friend of mine, a great, great businessman from mostly...
1:21.6	Whitkoff weaved in and out of the room throughout the launch.
1:23.6	At one point, he hopped on the mic to talk about how World Liberty Financial came to be.
1:29.4	And so we had a meeting initially with Eric, Don Jr. and the president and his counsel.
	...

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