Trump's crypto interests (Two Indicators)

Planet Money

NPR

Business, News

4.6 • 29.8K Ratings

🗓️ 4 June 2025

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today on the show – our crypto president. Just before President Donald Trump began his second administration in January, he and his business partners launched the $TRUMP coin. It's a memecoin that quickly raked in hundreds of millions of dollars. And there's a lot of earning potential still left on the table. Is that even legal?

We bring you two stories from our daily show, The Indicator about President Trump and his ties to crypto. First, the Trump coin. We explain what it is, how the real Donald Trump profits from it, and yes, whether this whole crypto scheme is within the law. Then we take a look at Stablecoins: how they work, how they make money, and for whom.

The original episodes from The Indicator were produced by Cooper Katz McKim and Corey Bridges. They were engineered by Harry Paul and Robert Rodriguez. They were fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Kate Concannon edits the show. This episode of Planet Money was produced by James Sneed and edited by Emma Peaslee. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Planet Money from NPR.
0:06.4	Well, and if you were trying to make as much money as you could from being the president, what would you do?
0:12.0	I would turn the situation room into an escape room and rent it out for birthday parties and corporate team building.
0:17.9	I was thinking cameo videos would make a nice birthday present for somebody.
0:21.9	Yeah. What if they just set up a big shady carnival on the South Lawn? Be like, here, try this
0:27.6	ring toss. There are no bad ideas. Carry on. What about selling a meme coin with my name on it?
0:34.9	And the top meme coin buyers get to join me for dinner.
0:38.0	Now you're onto something, President Wong?
0:40.2	That is exactly what President Trump did last month.
0:43.7	If you were among the top 220 holders of the Trump coin, this cryptocurrency,
0:48.9	you could have joined the president for a gala dinner.
0:52.1	Ooh, I can taste that rubbery fish now.
0:55.8	Now, you know, Daryan, these are the kinds of shenanigans that have me asking, is this even
1:00.9	legal?
1:02.2	Hello and welcome to Planet Money.
1:04.0	I'm Waylon Wong.
1:05.1	And I'm Daryan Woods.
1:06.3	Today on the show, two indicators on our crypto president.
1:10.1	First, the Trump coin. We explain what it is,
1:12.9	how the real Donald Trump profits from it, and yes, whether this whole crypto scheme is within the law.
1:19.5	Then we look into stable coins, how they work, how they make money, and for whom.
1:30.9	Really? Come on, let's go.
	...

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