HBO host John Oliver devoted a major segment of Last Week Tonight to Donald Trump’s expanding crypto business. He argued that the president’s growing presence in digital assets has blurred the line between politics and private profit. Oliver said Trump’s crypto ventures have become the biggest source of wealth for the family. This has overtaken its traditional real estate and hotel businesses.
According to Oliver, Trump earned more than $2.2 billion during his first year back in the White House. Notably, nearly $1.4 billion reportedly came from crypto-related businesses run by his family.
Meme Coins Take Center Stage
Oliver spent much of the episode criticizing the Trump family’s meme coin projects, comparing them to classic “pump-and-dump” schemes.
Trump’s meme coin briefly reached a market valuation of nearly $50 billion before crashing by about 92%. Despite the sharp decline, Oliver claimed Trump personally made around $636 million from the project.
Melania Trump also launched her own token shortly afterward. Oliver joked that many initially thought Trump’s announcement was the result of a hacked social media account because of how unexpected it was.
He also added that special dinners are organized for top meme coin holders at the White House. According to Oliver, simply announcing those events pushed the token price up another 30%. Meanwhile, more than one million investors were later left holding losses after the rally faded.
World Liberty Financial Faces Questions
Oliver also turned his attention to World Liberty Financial, the crypto platform launched by Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Barron Trump before the presidential election.
He argued the project could allow wealthy investors to build closer ties with the White House through large token purchases.
One example was Tron founder Justin Sun, who reportedly invested $75 million into World Liberty Financial and another $37.7 million into Trump-related meme coins while facing an SEC lawsuit. Oliver pointed out that the SEC later paused the case. Eventually, the SEC reached a settlement.
Similar investments from entities linked to the United Arab Emirates were also mentioned during the program.
SEC Changes Add More Fuel
Oliver also questioned the regulatory changes that followed Trump’s return to office.
After former SEC Chair Gary Gensler stepped down, new Chairman Paul Atkins adopted a much friendlier stance toward crypto. According to Oliver, more than 60% of ongoing crypto enforcement cases were either dropped or reduced after the leadership change.
He also criticized the proposed CLARITY Act, arguing it could weaken future oversight by shifting more responsibility to agencies with fewer enforcement powers.
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