President Donald Trump stirred the pot on Tuesday afternoon when he appeared to laugh off a reporter's question about whether he'll continue to sell products that directly benefit him while in the White House.
Speaking to reporters from the Roosevelt Room at the White House, Trump was asked, "Do you intend to continue to sell products that benefit yourself personally while you're president?"
Trump gave a rambling answer.
"Well I don't know if it benefitted. I don't know where it is. I don't know much about it other than I launched it. I heard it was very successful. I haven't checked it. Where is it today?"
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"You made a lot of money, sir," the reporter responds.
"How much?"
"Several billion dollars it seems like in the last several days," the reporter replies.
"Several billion? That's peanuts for these guys," he said to laughs in the audience. Trump also chuckled.
Trump launched a meme coin called $TRUMP on Friday, just days before his inauguration. The cryptocurrency gained significant attention, with itsmarket capitalization soaring to nearly $6 billion within hours of its launch.
The coin's website emphasized that it is a symbol of support rather than an investment opportunity. However, it has raised questions about whether it could open up a new avenue for foreign entities to buy influence in the Trump administration.
Despite Trump's attempt to downplay the seriousness of the conflict of interest, critics on social media were having none of it.
"He is such a lying piece of s---," wrote Emily C. Singer, staff reporter at the Daily Kos, on Bluesky.
"Blatant corruption, dismissed with a chuckle," wrote Democratic strategist Sawyer Hackett on X.
"I always love the questions that are like, 'Mr. Trump are you still going to commit crimes' and Trump is all, 'Gee, IDK, we’ll see' and our political press is like, ‘Welp, our job is done here. Who wants an orange whip? Orange whip? Orange whip? Three orange whips,'" chided writer Jason Karsh.
Watch the exchange below or at this link.
REPORTER: Do you intend to continue to sell products that benefit yourself personally while you're president? TRUMP: Well I don't know if it benefitted. I don't know where it is. I don't know much about it other than I launched it. I heard it was very successful. I haven't checked it.
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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) January 21, 2025 at 4:02 PM