What To Know
- Anderson Cooper expressed shock over reports that Donald Trump and his family have made over $1.4 billion in profits from cryptocurrency investments.
- Investigative journalist Eric Lipton highlighted unprecedented financial ties between the Trump family and foreign entities.
- Tech journalist Kara Swisher also described the Trump administration as a “coin-operated presidency.”
Anderson Cooper was stunned on Tuesday night (June 30) as he discussed the billions in profit Donald Trump and his family have made from cryptocurrency investments.
On the latest episode of Anderson Cooper 360, the CNN anchor referenced a New York Times report on the Trump family’s profits, including $1.4 billion generated by their crypto business. Cooper said it can’t be overstated just how “norm-shattering this is.”
New York Times investigative reporter Eric Lipton told Cooper that there is “no precedent for what we’re seeing,” adding, “It really is hard to overstate just how unusual and how historic this is.”
“The President says it is not a conflict. But just about anyone else who looks at it seems to think that it is”: New York Times Investigative Journalist Eric Lipton on President Trump’s billion dollar payday after his first year back in office. pic.twitter.com/E7moPA9vYk
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) July 1, 2026
“It’s incredible,” Cooper said, referencing how the United Arab Emirates and Qatar bought half of the Trump family’s crypto business. Lipton also noted that the sons of Steve Witkoff, the United States Special Envoy to the Middle East, who was involved in Iran negotiations, were also invested.
Lipton stated, “We’re talking about billions of dollars of financial ties between the UAE and the Trump family, at the same time as he is negotiating, sharing some of the most advanced technologies humans have ever created, and these AI chips with the UAE… there’s enormous implications in foreign policy that are mixed up with the personal financial interests of the president.”
Trump made more than a billion dollars from cryptocurrency ventures in his first year back in office, according to his own financial disclosure form. CNN Contributor Kara Swisher says, “this is a coin operated presidency.” pic.twitter.com/fJggLk9dpz
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) July 1, 2026
Cooper said he’s old enough to remember when former President Jimmy Carter‘s brother, Billy Carter, marketed his own beer, Billy Beer, and “people’s heads exploded that he was taking advantage of the president’s fame… we’ve come a long way from that.”
The host also spoke with tech journalist Kara Swisher, who described the Trump administration as “a coin-operated presidency, really. You just put money in to give to him, and then he gives you other things, and this is exactly what’s happening with the crypto stuff.”
You can watch the segment in the videos above and let us know your thoughts below.
Anderson Cooper 360, Weeknights, 8/7c, CNN