Barron Trump may have made millions from family's lucrative crypto firm: report
Barron Trump, the youngest son of the 47th President, may have raked in millions of dollars from the sale of crypto tokens linked to the family's lucrative venture into digital tokens, according to a report.
The 19-year-old New York University student could have picked up a cool $40 million (AU$61 million) — $25 million (AU$38 million) after taxes — from the sale of digital assets by World Liberty Financial, the Trump family firm launched nine months ago after Barron persuaded his dad about the benefits of crypto, Forbes reported.
'Barron knows so much about this,' commander-in-chief said during an interview in September after the launch. 'Barron's a young guy, but he knows it — he talks about his wallet. He's got four wallets or something, and I'm saying, 'What is a wallet?''
World Liberty has been a financial bonanza for the family. In March, World Liberty announced that it had sold $550 million (AU$850 million) worth of tokens.
An Office of Government Ethics filing released by President Trump last week declared he had made $57 million (AU$88 million) from token sales.
It also said that the real estate mogul held a 75 per cent stake in his umbrella company, DT Marks Defi LLC, with unnamed 'third parties' holding the other 25 per cent.
Barron Trump is listed as a 'co-founder' of World Liberty Financial alongside the president, as well as Eric and Donald Trump Jr, the president's two eldest sons.
Forbes, which provided no direct evidence for its claims of Barron Trump's massive digital windfall, suggested that he owned a 7.5 per cent stake in the Delaware-based umbrella firm.
The stake would mirror what the NYU freshman holds in the Trump Organization's Washington, DC hotel, Forbes said.
Barron Trump's name does not appear in the company's solitary SEC filing from October 30 last year.
Also listed as business partners in the venture are Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and his son, Zachary.
An analysis by Bloomberg, the financial news outlet, estimates the president's net worth has doubled since the start of his 2024 campaign, standing at just over US$5.4 billion
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News.com.au
22 minutes ago
- News.com.au
‘Gone': US move stopped world in its tracks
The United States has joined Israel's war against Iran, with President Donald Trump announcing American warplanes had dropped bombs on three nuclear sites in Iran. The three sites that were hit included Iran's mountain facility at Fordo, the heavily fortified underground facility in Iran that is critical to its nuclear program, and a larger plant at Natanz, which had already been targeted by Iran. The third site was at Isfahan, which is where Iran is believed to keep its near-bomb-grade enriched uranium. 'A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow,' Mr Trump announced on social media. Later in a speech at the White House, Mr Trump said the attack's objective was 'the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capability and a stop to the world's number one state sponsor of terror'. 'I can report to the world the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,' he said. 'Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier.' Retired US army officer John Spencer has told the ABC News the 13 tonne massive ordnance penetrators used in the attack could strike about 60 metres into the ground. 'Fordow is anywhere from 30-400 feet (nine to 121m deep). It's not one small site; it's multiple sites. We'll learn later how many bunker busters were dropped,' he said. Iran built the facility at Fordo in the 2000s, knowing that it needed to bury it deep to prevent it from being attacked. Iranian state media reported the three nuclear sites had been evacuated 'some time ago'. An official also told the IRNA news agency: 'There are no materials in these three nuclear sites that cause radiation.' Many believed the bombing could stop the potential of a weaonpised nuclear bomb from being created. US security analyst Mike Lyons told the ABC News the attack on Fordow meant Iran's nuclear program was now crippled and its uranium 'enrichment program is over, that they won't have any capability to create a weaponised nuclear bomb'. Israel had claimed Iran was rapidly nearing the capability of creating nuclear weapons, which Iran had denied alleging it was for a peaceful purposes such as a civilian power program. The US intelligence community has determined Iran's leaders were not actively pursuing a nuclear weapon, but did describe its uranium stockpile as unprecedented. CBS news is also reporting that the US had reached out to Iran diplomatically on Saturday to indicate the strikes on nuclear facilities is the only attack planned by Washington and it wasn't seeking to force a regime change. Mr Trump 'continues to hold out hope that diplomacy will now be able to proceed', according to CNN network's sources. However, Mr Spencer warned that Iran could still go the 'irrational route' and retaliate. 'It could go with Hezbollah, which still has a lot of capabilities, against Israel, (and where) there are hundred of thousands of American citizens,' he said. 'It could (activate) Shia-backed militia groups in Iraq to attack American bases. It's ballistic program, which is about 50 per cent destroyed, it could make that fatal mistake of launching ballistic missiles at American bases within its range.' Other experts argue that Iran might see a disproportionate attack as the only way to deter further strikes and could target American bases. Jonathan Panikoff, the director of the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council, said Iran could seek full retaliation, which would mean 'a significant escalatory spiral that could get out of hand quickly'. Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee, who heads the IDF's Arab media unit, indicated that it is anticipating a reliatory attack and issued a warning. 'It was decided to move all regions of the country to the level of essential work,' he wrote on X. 'The instructions include prohibiting educational activities, gatherings, and work centres, with the exception of essential work areas.' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video in response to the US attack on Iran. 'Congratulations President Trump,' he said. 'Your bold decision to target Iran's nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history.' '(The United States) has done what no other country on Earth could do,' he continues. 'That President Trump acted to deny the world's most regime the world's most dangerous weapons.' Meanwhile, the reaction from US politicians has been mixed. Republican Senate leader John Thune supported the bombing declaring 'the misguided pursuit of nuclear weapons must be stopped'. 'As we take action tonight to ensure a nuclear weapon remains out of reach for Iran, I stand with President Trump and pray for the American troops and personnel in harm's way,' he wrote on X. There are more than 40,000 US troops and civilians working for the Pentagon in the Middle East, across several countries and they could be in Iran's direct line of fire depending on the country's response. While the US had pulled personnel out of the Middle East earlier this month, the largest land base, according to The Washington Post, is the Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq – about 240 kilometres west of Baghdad. It houses thousands of troops and has been attacked in the past by Iran. US troops are also in other locations include Jordan, Syria, Turkey and the Persian Gulf. Omar Rahman, from the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, told the ABC that Iran is likely to retaliate and the US attack could push it further towards its nuclear program. 'Iran has its back to the wall for the moment and it needs to retaliate to show some sort of credibility for the regime,' he said. 'I think you're going to see some sort of military response here against US assets and military installations in the region That could be against aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf, it could be against any number of the bases and tens of thousands of US soldiers stationed in the region.' Meanwhile, Republican senator Lindsey Graham described it as 'the right call' adding the 'regime deserves it'. However, Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie said the US attack was 'not constitutional'. US senator and former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders condemned the attack as 'so grossly unconstitutional'. 'All of you know that the only entity that can take this country to war is the US Congress. The president does not have the right,' he said. Back in Australia, The Greens labelled the attack a 'blatant breach of international law'. 'From Iraq to Afghanistan, we have seen Australia follow the US into devastating and brutal wars that have done untold damage to the people of the Middle East. We know that you cannot bomb your way to peace,' Greens leader Larissa Waters said. 'Australia must always work for peace and de-escalation. Australia is not powerless, and we cannot be involved in another brutal war in the Middle East. 'Australia must take this opportunity to get out of AUKUS, have an independent foreign policy that centres peace, and must not allow the use of Australian US military bases like Pine Gap in this conflict.'

ABC News
43 minutes ago
- ABC News
US attack 'not the end of the war but the start'
An international relations expert says America's attack will result in retaliation from Iran and is likely to motivate Iran to build a nuclear weapon in the future.

News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
The US right wing is fracturing as ‘warmongers' run riot in face of Iran escalation
Several high-profile Trump supporters have watched on this week in disbelief, as the man they voted in fired off increasingly inflammatory rhetoric towards Iran from his socials. We've spoken a lot about how the left became fragmented through incessant infighting, which slowly but surely pushed the moderates away from the side of purported fairness. But now we're seeing it happen on the right, at least in the US. The 'anti-war, pro-America' agenda Trump ran on has been tested this month, purely because of America's historical links to Israel. With Tel Aviv under attack after launching 'pre-emptive strikes' at Iran, Trump has been forced to wade into the drama as several of his close Republican confidants bay for blood. Unfortunately, nuance isn't the 79-year-old's strong suit. What followed was a series of threats directed at the Ayatollah, coupled with broad-strokes warnings of bombing Iran into oblivion. For the libertarian and former Democrat wing of Trump's voter base – even some of those who have forever stood staunchly behind the billionaire – this messaging was seen as poison. Optimists saw him as a rejection of the past, but as each day passes, the Republican Party's old colours are shining through. After promising to clean up bloated bureaucracy and partially withdraw America from 'wasteful' overseas aid, some believe Trump has now taken the Iran fiasco to dangerous new heights. He has lashed out at Tucker Carlson, the provocative talk show host who found new footing online after being ousted by Fox, for his vocal opposition to yet another war with nations a world away. Carlson has spoken with many guests about the failure of Middle Eastern campaigns and the numerous, ultimately futile attempts to establish a lasting peace in the region. The anti-war wing of America who stood behind Trump as America's 'solution' is now coming to terms with the current crisis and what it could mean for the future. Meanwhile, the rusted-on neoconservatives have crawled back out from under the woodwork claiming, as many did in the George Bush administration 20 years ago, that they are working for the good of the world. The fracturing of the US right is picking up pace. Cruz stumbles in spat with Carlson While he aggressively endorsed Trump in the lead-up to the election, Carlson has refused to be an absolutist. He has criticised America's strong ties to Israel, which have placed Washington in a delicate situation as Benjamin Netanyahu uses US-funded armaments at will against his foes. 'While the American military may not have physically perpetrated the assault, years of funding and sending weapons to Israel … place the US at the centre,' Carlson said, doubling down on his criticism by blasting prominent conservative figures like Sean Hannity and Mark Levin as 'warmongers' for urging direct US intervention. Carlson then cornered US Senator and former Presidential hopeful Ted Cruz in an awkward, widely-shared interview released this week. During the sit-down, Carlson peppered Cruz with basic questions about Iran and he fell flat on his face. Cruz was unable to say what Iran's population was, which struck a nerve with Carlson, who accused him of ignorance while simultaneously calling for a forceful regime change. 'How many people live in Iran, by the way?' Carlson asked. 'I don't know the population at all,' Cruz replied. 'You don't know the population you seek to topple?' Carlson said. 'Why is it relevant if it's 90 million, or 80 million, or 100 million?' Cruz snapped back. 'They are Persians, and predominantly Shia.' Cruz slipped again, using the word 'we' when describing Israel's strikes on Iran. 'We are carrying out military strikes today,' he said. He quickly ate his words and claimed he was merely referencing American support for Israeli strikes rather than direct US action. 'You just said 'we' were,' Carlson quipped. 'This is high stakes. You're a senator. If you're saying the United States government is at war with Iran right now, people are listening.' 'An unforgivable betrayal' America First and isolationist conservatives are deeply uneasy at the prospect of US escalation, especially after Trump's public praise of Israel's 'excellent' strikes and his 'unconditional surrender' rhetoric. Mollie Hemingway, editor-in-chief of The Federalist, has defended Trump historically but warned this time that giving a 'green light' to Iran strikes would be 'an unforgivable betrayal by millions of American voters' and a 'strategic policy mistake'. Meanwhile, Charlie Kirk, who leads Turning Point USA, cautioned that Trump's approach 'will cause a massive schism in MAGA' and imperils the consistency of his 'America First' agenda. Steve Bannon, another prominent MAGA ally who has a chequered history with Trump, echoed those sentiments, warning against foreign entanglements and emphasising that Trump's move contradicts his core campaign promise of avoiding endless overseas wars. '(It) would tear the country apart,' Bannon said. 'The Israelis have to finish what they started … We can't do this again. We can't have another Iraq.'