Democrats seize on Trump earnings to go after GOP on affordability

President Trump raked in billions of dollars while in office over the past year, setting up a split screen ahead of the midterm elections as Americans confront rising prices and a lackluster jobs environment.

Financial disclosures released Tuesday show the president made more than $2 billion in 2025, including $1.2 billion in cryptocurrency related income.

It’s giving new ammunition to Democrats who want to contrast Trump’s economic experience over the last 18 months with many voters, complicating the GOP’s effort to drive home its own economic message ahead of the midterm elections.

“It makes it harder. There’s no question about it,” Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum, told The Hill.

“What you want more than anything else is to have the leader of the party feeling the people’s pain, identifying with the key issues that are troubling them,” he continued. “And there’s no way to make that happen now.”

Trump made more than $2 billion last year, a steep increase from 2024, when he reported more than $600 million in income.

More than half of the president’s income in 2025 came from his and his family’s various crypto-related ventures. He made about $594 million in connection with World Liberty Financial, the company he launched alongside his sons in 2024.

Another $635 million appears to be tied to his meme coin $TRUMP, which he released shortly before his inauguration in January 2025.

He also made $86.5 million in legal settlements with major media and technology companies, including ABC, CBS, Meta, YouTube and the social platform X.

Trump’s various properties remain a significant source of income as well. His Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida brought in $77.4 million last year, while his golf clubs across Florida, New York, New Jersey and Scotland made him a combined $252.5 million.

Additionally, The New York Times reported that Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick secured a billion-dollar mining deal between the U.S. and Kazakhstan and that an investment firm owned by Trump’s sons took a 20 percent stake in a corporate entity connected to the mining project.

Democrats immediately seized on these eye-popping sums to accuse Trump of corruption and call into question his commitment to affordability, which has become a central issue in the upcoming elections.

“In the first year of his presidency, Trump made more money than in the rest of his life combined,” Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) wrote in a post on X. “Meanwhile, most Americans worked hard to just break even. This is the cost of corruption.”

Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) similarly argued on X, “Instead of using the Presidency [to] put money in your pockets, he’s lining his own.”

The White House hit back at Democrats in a statement to The Hill, accusing them of distracting voters from former President Biden’s agenda.

“Democrats will do anything to distract from their clear record of incompetence and proven agenda of failure, from Joe Biden’s inflation crisis to his dumpster fire of a southern border to a lunatic obsession with transgenderism. The American people, fortunately, know better.”

Inflation, which was nearing the Federal Reserve’s target of 2 percent earlier this year, has surged in recent months amid the war with Iran. Consumer prices rose 4.2 percent year-over-year in May, marking a three-year high.

The labor market is also sending mixed signals. The latest jobs report released Thursday came in weaker than expected, with the U.S. adding just 57,000 jobs in June. The report also revised downward the strong showings in April and May by a combined 74,000 jobs.

“The problem that I think Trump and the Republicans have is that they think that because they’re transparent, and putting it out there, it’s not corrupt,” said Meghan Hays, a Democratic strategist and former special assistant to Biden.

“House Republicans are all-in for the rampant corruption and windfalls coming out of the White House and are responsible for higher costs for everyone else,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Viet Shelton said.

“For nearly two years, these phonies have allowed unchecked power from Donald Trump, his kids, their billionaire backers, and themselves. These extremists will pay the price in November,” he added.

The House Republican campaign arm hit back, calling the messaging efforts from Democrats desperate.

“Democrats are desperate to make this election about anything other than their failed record and radical socialist agenda,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Mike Marinella said.

“Americans care about whether they can keep more of what they earn, and Republicans have delivered with historic tax cuts, No Tax on Tips, Overtime, and Social Security, stronger border security, and a stronger America,” he said.

Holtz-Eakin said the GOP will likely focus on its legislative successes, such as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Republicans are now referring to as the Working Families Tax Cuts, and the housing package poised to become law.

“But realistically, Trump has always been the best messenger, most effective, and he’s less qualified,” he added. “He doesn’t tend to stay on script, and now he’s got this disclosure form that is at odds with everything else that people are experiencing.”

Trump distanced himself from the disclosures Wednesday, telling reporters he does not get involved with his personal finances.

When asked about critics saying he is profiting off the presidency, Trump said he’s earning more because the stock market is rising.

“Everybody is profiting,” he said.

When pressed on his crypto earnings in an interview with CNBC, Trump argued the U.S. has “to be on top” in the industry “otherwise China is going to take it over.”

The president has long turned to the stock market as a signal about the strength of the economy. While the two are related, the market does not reflect many of the dynamics at play in the broader economy.

“The president wants to be celebrating what he sees as a successful economy, and I think that runs counter to a lot of the sentiment among voters,” Owen Tedford, a senior research analyst at Beacon Policy Advisors, told The Hill.

“It’s been a consistent trend where Trump sees the success of the economy through the stock market,” he added.

Two major stock market indexes, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite, both posted their best quarters since 2020 over the past three-month period.

But the exuberance of the market stands in stark contrast to how most Americans are feeling about the state of the economy. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell to a record low in May before ticking up slightly in June.

This comes as economists have warned of the emergence of a K-shaped economy in which high-income households increasingly become better off and lower-income households fall further behind.

Tedford suggested Democrats might underscore this dynamic, pointing to Trump as “out of touch with your regular American.”

Hays said Trump’s financial disclosures are emblematic of “why people hate Washington and hate politicians.”

“This is how the Epstein files impacted people and really resonated with people because it’s like rich people play by a different set of rules. This is just another example of that,” she said.

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