Cryptocurrencies, movies and electric cars: The conflicts of interest that surround Trump and Musk
The economic benefits obtained by the president and his family and by the richest man in the world in the first weeks of the new administration are setting off alarm bells in the United States
Getty photographer Andrew Harnik took a seemingly insignificant image on Tuesday, but one that—perhaps unintentionally (though press photographers almost never look through their cameras unintentionally)—best sums up the intense debate in the United States about potential conflicts of interest in sectors such as cryptocurrencies, audiovisual production, and social media that weigh on the new White House of Donald Trump, his family, and his allies.
In the photo, you can see the president’s hand holding a cheat sheet with the prices (“as low as $299 a month or $35,000” in a single payment) and the advantages ― “they are all self-driving, you just have to activate it (it’s free)”― of electric vehicles from Tesla, a company owned by his close collaborator Elon Musk, in charge of dismantling from within the very same Administration with which the richest man in the world does juicy business with his companies, especially the astronautics firm Space X.
The two men appeared at the White House in front of a line of five cars in an event remarkably reminiscent of a Tesla commercial, in which Trump behaved like a dealership salesman and bought an electric vehicle. White House officials later told reporters that they did not see a conflict of interest, despite there being no precedent for such a thing. According to Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis, government officials are prohibited from endorsing a friend’s product, except if they are the president and vice president. In Trump’s case, he already demonstrated in his first term in office that in such matters he does not feel bound by the rules of decorum that his predecessors did.
With this event, the president was trying to help Musk, whose empire is largely based on public contracts. Despite having built the Tesla empire in part with taxpayer money, including $465 million from the Obama administration, and billions in revenue from the sale of CO₂ emission permits, he now holds the reins of government and has access to confidential data from dozens of federal agencies, although he has assured that he will not use it for his own benefit.
The market clearly saw the upside: Tesla’s stock soared starting November 18th thanks to the president’s close ties with Musk. The prospect of Trump authorizing self-driving cars at the federal level (Musk criticized state regulations during his robotaxi unveiling) triggered optimism on the stock market: shares rose 124% from the October 23rd earnings call to a peak on December 17th. Since then, however, they have lost half their value, in part due to the poor economic data that followed, and in part due to Musk’s role as a “special” government official—who, while leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has pushed for the layoff of tens of thousands of workers and the freezing of tens of millions of dollars in federal programs—which have been met with angry responses from consumers determined to get rid of their vehicles, as well as attacks on Tesla dealerships and charging stations across the country.
Meme coins
Musk’s relationships with the administration are endless: from the potential use of AI (a field in which he owns another company) in the government, to the sanctions or investigations imposed on SpaceX, Tesla and on Musk himself by agencies whose efficiency he now oversees: the SEC, the securities market regulator; the FAA for aviation; or the consumer protection and labor relations offices. The very choice of name for the most controversial department of the new Administration speaks eloquently to its close relationship with the world of cryptocurrencies, perhaps the sector with the most slippery interests of the Cabinet members. DOGE is the code for the virtual meme currency Dogecoin, and this asset has become a thermometer for the Tesla founder’s state of mind, who has hinted at the possibility of being able to buy his vehicles with this cryptocurrency. Trump’s election victory was viewed by the crypto world as the beginning of a golden age, fueled by generous donations from industry executives who boast a direct line to the Oval Office.
On the eve of his inauguration, the Republican president launched his memecoin $TRUMP, a digital asset with no technological basis or economic purpose, which didn’t stop its price from skyrocketing on social media. The token was at one point worth more than $15 billion, although it has lost more than 85% of its value since its high. A recent investigation by the Financial Times revealed that this project raised at least $350 million in the three weeks following its launch, despite the token’s website noting that it is “not distributed or sold by Donald Trump, The Trump Organization, or any of their respective affiliates or directors.” It was actually launched by the Trump Organization’s subsidiary, CIC Digital, and Fight Fight Fight LLC. 80% of the new memecoin is held by these entities.
That wasn’t Trump’s first foray into the crypto world, which was a recurring presence during his campaign. In September, he launched the World Liberty Financial platform, which sells an exclusive token of dubious utility. The website clarifies that the tycoon and his family do not own the company, although his three sons, Eric, Donald Jr., and Barron are involved in the project. The Trump family is also reportedly in talks with the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, to take a financial stake in its U.S. subsidiary, according to The Wall Street Journal. In 2024, the founder of the exchange, Changpeng Zhao, was sentenced to four months in prison in the United States for money laundering. The Trump administration, through the SEC, has halted the investigation into the platform, which began during Joe Biden’s term.
In the most crypto-friendly administration in history, suspicions aren't just focused on Trump. David Sacks, the White House crypto czar, founded the investment firm Craft Ventures in 2017. His portfolio includes the asset manager Bitwise—in which he is listed as a major investor—which, in turn, invests in the major cryptocurrencies that Trump himself included in his executive order to create a strategic reserve of digital assets.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent owns between $250,000 and $500,000 in the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, BlackRock's exchange-traded fund that tracks the price of bitcoin; Health Secretary Robert Kennedy owns between $1 and $5 million in bitcoin. Vice President JD Vance holds between $250,000 and $500,000 in cryptocurrencies, according to his latest financial disclosures, in addition to strong ties to Silicon Valley moguls Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, and Ben Horowitz. And Chief Trade Officer Howard Lutnick, formerly of the Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald, is a proponent of the stablecoin Tether, despite controversy over the currency's true backing (which is pegged to the dollar).
The administration has not clarified how it will resolve the multiple conflicts of interest. Not only that: the White House hosted the first "crypto summit" last week. "Thank you, Mr. President," repeated the business leaders in attendance. Among them were the famous twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (antagonists of another new Trump friend, Mark Zuckerberg), co-founders of the crypto platform Gemini and major donors to Trump's campaign.
Beyond the crypto world, since Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency, numerous beneficial contracts for his family have also come to light, such as the one with Amazon for First Lady, Melania Trump, to whom the audiovisual division of Jeff Bezos’s company will pay $40 million for a documentary chronicling her return to the White House. It’s a clearly inflated deal by current audiovisual industry standards and it was closed at a dinner at the family’s Mar-a-Lago mansion before the new president took office.
In the case of Truth Social, the social media platform that Trump founded after being expelled from Twitter in the days following the Capitol riots, his family has been placed in charge of managing what has become the main loudspeaker for his decisions. The president announced that his Truth Social shares would go to a trust controlled by his son, Donald Trump Jr. This proximity raises questions about his legitimacy to make decisions that benefit his supporters.
The Tesla event on Tuesday was not, however, broadcast on Truth Social but on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter and owned by First Buddy Elon Musk.
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