Although it may not seem so, Donald Trump is a successful author. He has written a dozen books, some of which — such as The Art of the Deal — reached the top of the bestseller lists. The U.S. president has never been one to overlook a business opportunity. Over the years, he has been a builder, a real-estate developer, a casino owner, a television personality whose audience enjoyed watching him fire employees, and even an aspiring owner of a professional football team.
Since moving into the Oval Office, however, he has increasingly turned his attention to more modern and intangible assets: cryptocurrencies and digital tokens, which have helped expand his vast fortune, estimated at around $7.6 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The core of his business empire rests on two relatively stable pillars: real estate and his brand. He owns dozens of luxury hotel developments across the Middle East, where he has expanded his business interests since returning to the White House in January 2025. He has also secured a growing number of deals to develop golf courses, luxury residential projects and skyscrapers in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
Many of these projects are owned by other investors, but Trump licenses his name as a symbol of luxury in exchange for substantial fees. The entire operation falls under the umbrella of The Trump Organization, the cornerstone of his business empire, which is currently managed by his sons, Eric and Donald Jr., through a trust.
“By keeping his assets in a family-managed trust, which he can revoke at any time, Trump and his family are in the unique position to profit directly from his public service,” explains the advocacy group Open Secrets.
Under The Trump Organization, the president’s family controls dozens of real-estate assets. According to the company’s website, its portfolio includes more than a dozen hotels in locations such as New York, Doonbeg in Ireland, Turnberry in Scotland, Oman, Vietnam and the Maldives. Alongside many of these resorts, it also operates golf courses. Altogether, the conglomerate says it manages more than 20 public and private golf properties around the world. Some are not company-owned, but are operated by the organization.
The group also owns roughly 40 luxury towers and high-end properties worldwide. In the New York–New Jersey area alone, it has 16 towers. Others can be found in Romania, the Philippines, Turkey and Uruguay. Not all of these buildings are owned by Trump; in some cases, he licenses his name as a luxury brand. The company also leases commercial space within these properties, generating another lucrative source of revenue.
The Trump brand itself is highly profitable. The company licenses the Trump name for buildings and other real-estate developments in exchange for fees, a practice that has drawn criticism and scrutiny over potential conflicts of interest.
The holding company also sells merchandise associated with the president. A Trump-branded polo shirt costs $80, while a baseball cap sells for $36. According to the financial disclosure released on Tuesday, the group earned more than $635 million from commemorative coins issued during Trump’s presidency. It also reported nearly $5 million in revenue from Trump-branded watches and $208,000 from sales of a Bible bearing the president’s name.
The group also has a dozen new real-estate projects underway, expanding its portfolio in countries including India, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Indonesia, Georgia and Romania.
Although during his first term Trump made clear that his business interests would remain separate from politics and promised not to enter into new commercial deals abroad, he changed course after returning to the White House. He has even expressed frustration that his efforts during his first stint in office went largely unrecognized.
“I found out that nobody cared,” he said in an interview with The New York Times.
“No modern president has jumped so directly from the world of business to the presidency as Donald Trump,” notes Open Secrets. “And in so doing, Trump has refused to do as his predecessors have done: sever ties to the companies or financial interests that may pose, or present the appearance of, a conflict of interest.”
This vast real-estate empire has been further bolstered by Trump’s ties to the Gulf monarchies. He began his second term with a tour of the Middle East, visiting the royal families of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The New York businessman has long been familiar with the region. He started doing business in the UAE at the beginning of the century and gradually built relationships with some of the Gulf’s most prominent developers and business figures.
Trump’s sons have expanded the family empire into the cryptocurrency sector. Just before their father returned to the White House, they launched a crypto venture called World Liberty Financial. Following Trump’s tour of the Middle East, the company secured a series of major investments. A firm linked to the upper echelons of Abu Dhabi’s leadership used the Trump-backed cryptocurrency to make a $2 billion investment in the crypto exchange Binance, providing a significant boost to the venture.
The children have inherited their father’s appetite for business. They are now expanding the family empire into Europe. Ivanka Trump, the president’s favorite daughter, and her husband, Jared Kushner — who serves as an intermediary and negotiator in several peace talks — have set their sights on an exclusive stretch of Albania’s coastline. There, they plan to develop a luxury residential and hotel complex, but the project has met with local opposition.
Nor do Trump’s sons miss an opportunity. According to The New York Times, they invested in a mining company shortly before the U.S. administration led by their father signed an agreement with the authorities of Kazakhstan granting access to one of the world’s largest tungsten deposits. The newspaper reported on the deal last week.
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