How a Trump Media deal with a crypto firm exposes potential conflicts of interest
December 16, 2025
Crypto.com was under siege — investigated by President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration and told enforcement action was likely. Then Donald Trump won the 2024 election, and the company’s legal peril dissipated. Crypto.com tapped a lobbyist close to Trump and donated $11 million to political committees tied to the Republican president. The investigation was dropped. Then the company announced it would invest roughly $1 billion into a venture with Trump’s social media company. Legal and ethics experts say the arrangement offers a case study of the conflicts of interest that have arisen in Trump’s second presidency. The White House says neither the president nor his family has ever engaged in conflicts of interest.