After Launch of $100,000 Watch, People Are Wondering Who Gets the Money From Official Trump Merch
Presidents usually separate from any businesses before taking office to avoid any conflicts of interest.
Oct. 16 2025, Published 2:41 p.m. ET
Most high-ranking government officials are supposed to recuse themselves from any government business in which they have a financial interest.
This rule excludes the president, the vice president, and Congress. But in the past, U.S. presidents have sold off their businesses or put their assets in a blind trust before taking the presidency to avoid the appearance that they're profiting from the office.
President Donald Trump doesn't seem to be concerned about appearing to profit from the presidency.
Technically, the president is allowed to maintain his businesses as long as he doesn't use his platform as a public official to promote them. For example, in 2017, when Kellyanne Conway endorsed Ivanka Trump's products during an interview with Fox News, that was a clear ethics violation, according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (although President Trump didn't see it that way).
Trump no longer runs the Trump organization directly, but he still profits from it.
President Trump handed over the management of the Trump Organization to his sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. Even though he is not officially involved in the company's day-to-day decision-making, Trump's presidency is still directly tied to the business, as it sells hundreds of "Trump," "MAGA," and "45-47" items. If you peruse Trump's watch website, you'll find a video of Trump endorsing the products while standing in front of American flags.
President Trump has garnered over $10 billion selling merch this past year alone.
According to The Independent, Trump watches brought in $2.8 million. His sneakers and fragrances made him $2.5 million, and his coffee table books made $3 million. His Greenwood Bible and guitar sales each garnered over $1 million.
The financial disclosure report Trump released in June 2025 was 234 pages long, according to The Independent. Biden's report was 11 pages.
Most of Trump's profits in the past year came from his crypto firm.
Per The Independent, Trump made $57,355,532 from his stake in World Liberty Financial and likely earned $320 million in fees from $TRUMP meme coin. His Mar-a-Lago property brought in over $50 million.
Critics are concerned about the ethics of Trump's online store.
CREW's executive director and chief counsel told The Guardian, "Once again Donald Trump is demonstrating that his most consistent practice as a government official is not prioritizing the needs of the American people [who] have entrusted him with our highest public office, but instead finding new ways to exploit the presidency to funnel money into his businesses."
One thing that the president is explicitly not allowed to do is accept money or gifts from foreign government officials.
Foreign officials staying at Trump's properties and using Trump's golf courses then create a conflict of interest.
The U.S. Constitution’s emoluments clause "bars public officials from receiving gifts from foreign governments, and is intended to prevent foreign and state officials from exerting undue influence on U.S. leaders, including the president," according to The Washington Post. Before Trump entered office for his second term, he set up an ethics plan so that any money foreign governments spend at Trump properties would be donated to the U.S. treasury, and the Trump Organization wouldn't have any new transactions with foreign governments.
Critics aren't satisfied with Trump's ethics plan.
Walter Shaub, ex-director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, said, "It’s an insult to the very notion of government ethics ... Trump needs to divest his conflicting financial interests. That’s the only meaningful step he could take.”