Trump dismisses – President Donald Trump dismissed concerns raised by his financial disclosures and his family’s business investments, telling CNBC’s Joe Kernen on Thursday that his children have access to “inside information” and likening their situation to buying a frosted pa
When President Donald Trump sat down with CNBC’s Joe Kernen at the Oval Office on Thursday. the conversation landed on a familiar flashpoint: what happens when a president’s family does business while the government they lead is green-lighting deals and contracts with companies tied to their investments.
The scrutiny has been building as Americans wrestle with high costs of living and stagnant wages. and as Trump’s own finances have surged since he retook the White House. In his second term. the president has reportedly increased his net worth by billions. while nearly every member of his immediate family—and even some extended family—has also been cashing in.
The pattern lawmakers and critics focus on is straightforward: their portfolios have “coincidently aligned” with the goals of Trump’s administration, which has approved deals and contracts involving multiple companies where members of the Trump family have invested.
This week, the latest filings widened the spotlight. Trump’s financial disclosures show that in 2025 he made $2.2 billion, including $1.4 billion on crypto. The number dwarfs what he earned in his first term: $2.2 billion is more than he made across all four years of that earlier period. It also exceeds what he made in 2024 before returning to the White House—$622 million—by more than three times.
In the interview, Trump brushed off those concerns. He bemoaned that his children have access to “inside information” because of his presidency, then added a bizarre analogy involving food.
“I feel badly in a way for my kids … Anything they do, because the presidency is so powerful, so big … if they buy a cupcake company, well, the energy to make the cupcakes, is you know, sort of like, ‘How’s my energy policy?’ So, therefore you have a conflict,” Trump said.
He pressed the point further, expanding the scenario beyond cupcakes to freight and fuel.
“Almost anything they do, if they want to buy a truck … if they buy an energy efficient truck, they have inside information,” Trump added.
For many watchers, the most striking part wasn’t the analogy—it was the framing. Trump portrayed the supposed “inside information” as something his children suffer under, even as the disclosures and the administration’s approvals of deals tied to family investments have become a central concern.
Trump also shifted responsibility inside the family. In the same conversation, he appeared to dismiss the need for further accountability by saying his son, Eric Trump, handles his financial dealings.
“It’s given to big firms … my son Eric handles it,” Trump said. “I don’t talk to him about things such as this. I think I’d be allowed to, I’m not sure even what the status is, but I don’t.”
The sequence of events—rising wealth figures in 2025. a widening gap between first-term earnings and his current returns. and a business world where family investments overlap with administration priorities—has put fresh pressure on how conflicts are understood in the Trump White House. And on Thursday, the president’s response was not to narrow the issue. It was to argue. in his own words. that the presidency’s reach makes nearly any business move by his children involve “inside information.”.
Trump Oval Office financial disclosures 2025 income crypto CNBC Joe Kernen Eric Trump conflicts of interest inside information family business
Kids get inside info?? Sounds like everyone knew already.
So he’s basically saying it’s fine because his kids are smart or something? The article lost me with the crypto numbers, but $1.4 billion is just insane. How is that not a conflict of interest.
I think you guys are misunderstanding, like… if he buys frosted cake then it’s not illegal right? also “inside information” sounds like they’re just gossiping or reading the news. not like they’re trading on it or anything. idk i’m tired.
The part about the presidency being “so powerful” and then the food analogy made me roll my eyes. Like how convenient that their investments always match what the administration is approving. Everyone acts shocked but it’s the same playbook every time, just with bigger numbers and more crypto. Meanwhile regular people can’t afford groceries, so yeah this story matters.