The gloves are off, and they have no intention of comporting themselves with decorum.
As Donald Trump begins his second term, the ancient tension between public office and private gain has reasserted itself with unusual visibility. Within days of his inauguration, cryptocurrency tokens bearing his name and his wife's surged in value, a Saudi-backed golf tournament was confirmed for his resort, and the ethics executive order of his predecessor was quietly rescinded. Where prior administrations — including his own first — at least performed the ritual of separation between power and profit, this moment appears to dispense with the performance itself, leaving ethics scholars to weigh constitutional clauses against a presidency that has chosen transparency about its entanglements over the pretense of distance.
- Trump launched personal cryptocurrencies days before taking office, and their value soared into the billions while he claimed not to know how much he had personally gained.
- A Saudi-backed golf tournament confirmed for Trump's Doral resort marks the first such event held there during his presidency, crossing a line his first term at least nominally observed.
- Ethics experts warn that foreign governments could purchase Trump's meme coins in large quantities as a legally ambiguous but constitutionally suspect form of influence — a loophole the Supreme Court never closed.
- Trump rescinded Biden's ethics executive order on his first day back and has yet to issue any voluntary ethics policy of his own, a departure even from his own first-term practice.
- Melania Trump's Amazon documentary deal, signed during the transition as Jeff Bezos cultivated proximity to the president, raises questions about the blurring of commercial and political relationships at the highest level.
In the days before Donald Trump's second inauguration, he and Melania Trump launched cryptocurrency tokens bearing their names. A pre-inaugural celebration unfolded at a Trump-owned property. And this spring, a Saudi-backed golf tournament will tee off at his Doral resort. Ethics specialists see a president openly positioning himself to profit from office in ways his first administration at least nominally tried to constrain.
The contrast with eight years ago is striking. Then, Trump staged a news conference with stacks of documents meant to signal separation from the Trump Organization. He did not divest or place assets in a blind trust — he handed day-to-day control to his sons — but the gesture existed. This time, the gesture appears to have been abandoned. Eric Trump has signaled the company will pursue foreign deals more aggressively, reversing a self-imposed first-term restriction, while the new ethics plan promises only to track and donate profits from foreign government entities rather than avoid them.
The $TRUMP cryptocurrency launched January 17, three days before the inauguration. When asked whether it benefited him personally, Trump said he was unsure, claiming he had merely heard it was successful. Norm Eisen, Obama's ethics counsel, sees constitutional danger: the Foreign Emoluments Clause bars officeholders from accepting benefits from foreign states without congressional approval, and a foreign government could simply purchase the coin in large quantities as a form of influence laundering. The clause was litigated during Trump's first term but dismissed as moot when he left office — leaving the legal question unresolved.
Meanwhile, Melania Trump signed a deal with Amazon to produce a documentary about herself, with Jeff Bezos — who donated seven figures to Trump's inauguration and received a prominent seat at the ceremony — as the platform's founder. Ethics observers note the Obamas signed with Netflix only after leaving the White House; Melania's deal arrived during the transition, at a moment when Bezos was visibly drawing closer to the new administration.
On his first day back, Trump rescinded Biden's executive order requiring senior officials to avoid lobbyists' gifts and observe a two-year post-government cooling-off period. No replacement ethics policy has been issued. During his first term, Trump signed such a policy within days of taking office. There is no legal requirement that he do so — presidents have simply chosen, by tradition, to impose ethical standards on themselves. That tradition, this time, appears to be one he has chosen to set aside.
In the days before Donald Trump took the oath of office for his second term, he and Melania Trump launched cryptocurrency tokens bearing their names. A lavish pre-inaugural celebration unfolded at a Trump-owned property. And this spring, a Saudi-backed golf tournament will tee off at Trump's Doral resort. These moves, arriving within days of his return to power, have set off alarms among ethics specialists who see a president openly positioning himself to profit from the office in ways his first administration, at least nominally, tried to constrain.
The contrast is stark. Eight years ago, Trump held a news conference with his lawyer, Sheri Dillon, surrounded by stacks of documents meant to demonstrate his effort to separate himself from the Trump Organization. He did not divest. He did not place his holdings in a blind trust managed by an independent party. Instead, he handed day-to-day control to his sons and called it sufficient. Ethics watchdogs called it insufficient then. This time, the guardrails appear thinner still.
Eric Trump, who runs the Trump Organization, has signaled that the company will pursue foreign deals more aggressively than it did in the first term, reversing a self-imposed restriction. The ethics plan released this month pledges to track profits from foreign government entities and donate them to the Treasury—a promise to manage the problem rather than avoid it. The Saudi-backed LIV Golf tournament at Doral will be the first held there while Trump occupies the White House, a symbolic crossing of a line that was, at least theoretically, drawn before.
Then there is the question of what Trump himself is doing. He announced the $TRUMP cryptocurrency on January 17, three days before his inauguration. His wife's $MELANIA coin followed the next day. When asked whether these ventures benefited him personally, Trump said he was unsure. The coin's value soared into the billions, according to market data, yet the president claimed ignorance of his own gains. He said he had "heard it was very successful" but knew little beyond launching it.
Norm Eisen, who served as ethics counsel in the Obama White House, sees constitutional peril. The Foreign Emoluments Clause bars federal officeholders from accepting gifts or benefits from foreign states without congressional approval. A foreign government wanting to influence Trump could simply purchase his meme coin in large quantities and make that purchase known, Eisen argued—a form of influence laundering through cryptocurrency. The clause was litigated during Trump's first term but never resolved; the Supreme Court dismissed the cases as moot once he left office.
Meanwhile, Melania Trump has signed a deal with Amazon to produce a documentary about herself, with her serving as executive producer. The project began during the transition and will chronicle her return to Washington. It is not unusual for former presidents and first ladies to secure lucrative media contracts. The Obamas signed with Netflix after leaving office. But Eisen notes that the Obamas' deal came after they had departed the White House, whereas Melania's agreement with Amazon arrives as Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder, has cultivated a closer relationship with the president. Bezos received a prominent seat at Trump's inauguration this week after Amazon donated seven figures to support the event. Amazon was not offering such deals to Melania Trump in January 2021, when Trump's political future looked uncertain.
On his first day back in office, Trump rescinded the Biden executive order that required senior officials to pledge to avoid lobbyists' gifts and imposed a two-year cooling-off period before they could lobby the executive branch after leaving government. As of this week, Trump had not issued his own voluntary ethics policy for his administration. During his first term, he signed such a policy within days of taking office. There is no legal requirement that he do so. The federal conflict-of-interest statute does not apply to the president or vice president. Presidents have simply chosen, by tradition, to impose ethical standards on themselves and their staff. This time, that choice appears to be trending toward restraint.
Notable Quotes
This time, it feels like the gloves are off, and they have no intention of comporting themselves with the decorum and ethical standards of other administrations.— Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen
Trump is taking on new conflicts in real time. It's a recipe for an ethics disaster, particularly given Trump's power to decide how the federal government will regulate cryptocurrency.— Norm Eisen, former Obama White House ethics lawyer
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter that Trump launched these coins just before taking office rather than after?
Because the timing collapses the separation between his private business and his public power. Once he's president, he controls how the federal government regulates cryptocurrency. That's not a coincidence—it's the whole problem.
But couldn't he have launched these coins at any point? Why is the presidency the issue?
He could have, but the value and the opportunity are different. Foreign governments and wealthy actors now know they can buy his tokens and gain his attention. That's influence for sale, just not in a form the Constitution's framers anticipated.
The ethics plan says they'll donate foreign profits to the Treasury. Doesn't that solve it?
It manages the symptom, not the disease. You're still creating the incentive for foreign entities to do business with Trump properties. The donation is a fig leaf—it doesn't undo the influence or the conflict.
What about Melania's Amazon deal? That seems separate from Trump's business.
It would be, except Bezos just gave seven figures to Trump's inauguration and got a front-row seat. The timing and the relationship between Amazon and Trump create the appearance that Bezos is buying access through Melania's contract.
Is there any precedent for a president doing this?
Not really. Trump's first term was messy on ethics, but he at least pretended to constrain himself. This time, he's not even pretending. He rescinded Biden's ethics order and hasn't replaced it with his own. That's a deliberate choice to lower the bar.
What happens next?
Lawsuits, probably. But the Supreme Court already dismissed emoluments cases as moot once Trump left office before. The real check is Congress, and Congress is controlled by his party. That's the actual problem.