Trump’s Businesses: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

Trump's Business Ventures and Legal Challenges

• Trump has various business ventures that are not to be confused with unofficial products bearing his name, such as the "Trumpy Trout," an animatronic talking fish with a big personality (14s).
• Trump's official business ventures include golf and real estate deals abroad, with projects announced in Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and Vietnam, as well as the sale of official Trump coins, a Trump-branded Bible, and the "Never Surrender" high-tops (1m43s).
• Trump has also launched a line of Trump watches, including the "Trump Victory Turbon," which retails at $100,000 and features almost 200g of gold and over 100 real diamonds (1m57s).
• Trump's willingness to slap his name on random products is not new, but the scope of his business ventures has escalated sharply since leaving office, possibly due to his mounting legal expenses and judgments (2m37s).
• Trump faces multiple judgments, including a civil fraud case in New York, for which he was ordered to pay $355 million in damages, and two civil cases brought by E. Jean Carroll, for which he was ordered to pay about $88 million (2m51s).
• Trump's financial situation has made him more desperate to bring in as much money as possible, especially if his appeals fail and courts order his assets to be seized and sold (3m20s).
• Trump's businesses could wreak havoc, especially if he wins the election, and there is a need for ethical guardrails to be put in place (3m43s).

Trump's First Term and Ethical Concerns

• During Trump's first term, it became clear that the US system of ethics was largely based on norms that could be ignored, allowing Trump to not release his tax returns and not put his assets into a blind trust, unlike nearly all presidents since the 70s (3m49s).
• Trump put his assets in a revocable trust that he could access at any time, run by his sons and the company's CFO, who has since gone to jail twice for lying under oath and dodging taxes (4m42s).
• The emoluments Clause of the Constitution forbids the president from accepting money payments or gifts from foreign governments unless they obtain the consent of Congress, but Trump ignored this law, with an investigation finding that his businesses raked in $7.8 million from 20 foreign governments during his first two years in office (5m0s).
• The foreign governments that paid the most money to Trump's businesses were China, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, effectively paying millions to Trump by renting hotel rooms or other Trump-owned properties (5m26s).
• Trump's violations of the emoluments Clause were the subject of multiple lawsuits during his term, but the Supreme Court dismissed these cases as moot after his term ended, as there was no final court ruling (6m2s).
• There is concern that Trump will continue his personal enrichment in a second term, particularly in areas that weren't part of his financial portfolio last time, such as social media and cryptocurrency (6m17s).

Trump's Venture into Social Media: Truth Social

• After leaving office, Trump started Trump Media, which includes the social media platform Truth Social, a "Maga version of Twitter" that advertises on Newsmax and has been promoted as a place where "Freedom lives" (6m27s).
• The concept of Truth Social was pitched to Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago by two former Apprentice contestants just three weeks after January 6th, with the idea that Trump would own the majority of the company without investing his own money, effectively leveraging his name (7m50s).
• Since going public, Trump's stake in the company has soared to values as high as $5 billion, more than the estimated value of all his commercial real estate combined, making it the biggest piece of his financial holdings (8m16s).
• However, the value of Truth Social is not reflective of the company's financial performance, as it has shown little revenue and large losses, and is currently functioning as a meme stock that goes up due to online frenzy rather than underlying value (9m21s).
• The platform's user base is a fraction of Twitter's, and its popularity is largely due to Trump's name, with Fox Business correspondent Charlie Gasparino warning that there are no profits to be made from the company (9m38s).
• As president, Trump could use the power of the office to boost the stock by communicating only through Truth Social, and American companies seeking government favors could buy ads on the platform, while foreign governments could buy shares to score points with Trump (10m24s).
• Foreign governments could also have significant power over Trump's net worth by buying and dumping shares, rendering his stock worthless (10m48s).

Trump's Foray into Cryptocurrency and NFTs

• Trump has also ventured into cryptocurrency, initially being anti-crypto but later changing his mind after launching non-fungible tokens (NFTs) called Trump Digital Trading Cards (11m11s).
• Trump's NFTs were announced as his first official digital collection, and have been described as "absolutely Bonkers" (11m27s).
• Trump has released a series of NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, featuring artwork of himself in various scenarios, including as an astronaut, superhero, and Elvis, which he claims is "artwork pertaining to my life and career" (11m33s).
• The first collection of NFTs sold out in less than a day, prompting Trump to release three more sets, resulting in a large number of unusual images of him being available (12m19s).
• The person who got Trump into NFTs is Bill Zanker, who co-authored Trump's 2007 book "Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life" and founded The Learning Annex, an adult education company that offered classes on topics such as flirting and cheating on one's spouse (12m42s).
• Trump has made over $7 million from his NFT licensing deal, according to his most recent financial disclosure, and has since become more involved in the crypto community (13m10s).

Trump's Cryptocurrency Platform: World Liberty Financial

• Trump has launched a new business called World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency platform that allows users to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies, with the goal of bypassing "big Banks and financial Elites" (13m22s).
• The platform is being advised by a person named Ogle, whose headshot is a cartoon character wearing a gas mask, and whose organization is called Glue (13m48s).
• Trump's sons Eric and Don Jr. are involved in the platform as "web 3 ambassadors" and Trump is referred to as the "Chief crypto Advocate" (14m7s).
• The company has launched a governance token, which has sold for $14 million, but currently has no real rights and cannot be traded because it is non-transferable (14m31s).
• Once the platform is launched, 75% of net revenue will go to a company owned by Trump, allowing him to profit from the venture (15m3s).
• Chase Hero and Zach Fulman are key people behind a company, with Hero previously involved in a crypto platform that was hacked, resulting in the theft of $2 million, and also selling weight loss colon cleanses and a get-rich-quick class (15m16s).
• Hero owns a 34-foot boat called Clickbait and has described crypto as a space where people will buy anything if the story is right (15m36s).

Trump's Business Partners: Hero and Fulman

• Zach Fulman used to run a service called Date Hotter Girls, where he taught master classes on how to become the ultimate alpha male, with his methods being described as unflashy and sad (16m31s).
• Fulman's advice to men includes telling women about their cool houses and showing them YouTube videos, which is unlikely to entice women (16m41s).
• Fulman's conversation tactics, such as asking women about their accents, are also unlikely to be effective and may be seen as annoying or intrusive (18m21s).
• Despite their questionable business practices and advice, Trump is in business with these individuals, which raises concerns about his potential presidency (18m57s).

Trump's Potential Influence on Cryptocurrency Regulation

• The United States is partnering with Donald Trump and other entities to reshape the financial landscape, which raises concerns about the regulation of cryptocurrency, an industry still in its infancy (19m1s).
• There are currently no substantive laws passed by Congress and no rules written into regulation for cryptocurrency, leaving the next president with significant influence over the shaping and enforcement of these laws (19m18s).
• Trump has signaled a lax attitude towards regulation, promising to create regulations written by people who love the cryptocurrency industry, and has expressed his intention to fire SEC chairman Gary Gensler, who has been aggressive in pursuing scammers and regulating cryptocurrency as securities (19m33s).
• Trump's intentions to influence regulations could directly impact the success or failure of his own cryptocurrency company, creating a conflict of interest (20m49s).
• This conflict of interest is particularly concerning in the cryptocurrency space, where Trump appears to be promising to create loopholes while also using a business venture to exploit them (21m11s).
• Trump's potential use of the presidency to enrich himself is a concern, particularly with his involvement in new companies and branches of technology that are still being figured out how to regulate (21m21s).
• This situation could expose Trump to new levels of risk and provide avenues for people to funnel money to him and influence him (21m39s).