WSJ What’s News - How Crypto Has Earned the Trump Family Billions

Episode Date: August 13, 2025

A.M. Edition for Aug 13. Their crypto-currency venture has generated more wealth since the election - some $4.5 billion - than any other part of the president’s business empire, as WSJ senior reporter Patricia Kowsmann explains. Plus, hundreds of National Guard troops begin patrolling Washington D.C. And WSJ reporter Vipal Monga explains how some Canadians are using alcohol as a new front in their country’s trade war with the U.S. Sign up for the WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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18 plus subscription required TNCs apply. Hundreds of National Guard troops begin patrolling Washington, D.C. Plus, we look at the recipe behind the Trump family's cryptocurrency hall and how booze has become a new front in the U.S. Canada trade war. Eight of the country's 10 provinces have stopped buying U.S. alcohol, which is really hurting many U.S. distillers who depend on Canada as their largest export market. It's Wednesday, August 13th. I'm Azhar Sukri for the Wall Street Journal.

Here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. The Trump family's crypto venture has generated more wealth since the election, some $4.5 billion, than any other part of the president's business empire. A major reason for the success is a partnership with trading platform pancake swap. It's quietly administered by the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance, whose founder is seeking a pardon from President Trump. So write journal Crypto Reporters Angus Berwick and Patricia Kousman. Patricia, this sounds like a lot of money.

Tell us about this partnership. Yeah, so Banking Swap is an online trading platform, basically, where people can buy and sell cryptocurrencies. And we have a company called World Liberty Financial, which is the cryptocurrency. crypto venture of the Trump family. This company created a cryptocurrency called USD1, which is basically pegged with the US dollar. What World Liberty did and Pancake Swap did were they announced a partnership to boost USD1's adoption and that happened in June. And that partnership basically created incentives for people on the Pancake Swap platform to trade USD1 for other tokens. Those included some projects that said they were created specifically with the intent

of helping to increase the use of USD1. So the result, basically, is that the trading volume of USD1 skyrocketed with this announcement and this partnership. And the way World Liberty makes money out of the USD1 is that it basically invests the money back in the coin in things like government bonds and money market funds. So the more USD1 is in circulation, the more it can invest and actually make money. There are more than $2 billion of SD1 in circulation. And based on our calculations, it can earn around $80 million a year based on the current interest rates. Okay, so that's how this partnership is generating money for the Trump family's business, and then you write that the founder of crypto exchange, Binance, is also involved.

So according to our reporting, Pancake Swap was created by Binance, which is the world's largest centralized crypto exchange a few years ago. So we have here Pancake Swap helping drive U.S. D1 trading volumes. And in parallel, we have reported, and it's been public, that Binance's founder, CZ, is seeking a pardon from President Trump. It's important to note that CZ has kind of dismissed the connections between deals and a pardon. Binance got into trouble back in 2003 for basically very relaxed or almost non-existent anti-money laundering controls at the exchange. And as a result, CZ actually spent four months in prison. in the U.S. last year, and Binance agreed to pay a $4.3 billion fine to settle the case.

And what has the White House had to say about all of this? So the White House press secretary told us that the media continues to try to create conflicts of interest where they don't exist and said that neither the president nor his family have ever engaged or will ever engage in conflicts of interest. Patricia Kousman is a senior reporter for the Wall Street Journal. Patricia, thank you for bringing us this story. Thank you. Coming up, find out how Canadians are using booze as the latest weapon in their trade war with the US.

That story and more after the break. Washington, D.C. is looking much. different this week, with more than 800 National Guard troops now patrolling the city. Speaking to reporters, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt, detailed a range of arrests that had been made since President Trump placed the city's police department under federal control, including charges of homicide, gun and drug crimes. And Levitt said federal control of D.C.'s police department could last longer than 30 days.

As for the timing, we will reevaluate in re-evaluate and re-review. assess and make further decisions after this 30-day period is up. But within these 30 days, our entire focus is making sure that this is the most efficient operation possible and that we are removing as many criminals from the streets and we are cleaning up D.C. as best as we can. The White House would need approval from both the House and Senate in order to extend the takeover of the police department. Justice Department data shows that violent crime in Washington was down 35% last year from 2023, the lowest in more than 30 years. The State Department has released a long-delayed human rights report

highlighting the Trump administration's foreign policy priorities. It escalates criticism of US allies in Europe for perceived restrictions on freedom of expression while cutting sections on LGBT rights and government corruption. Current and former officials say political appointees the State Department changed how the report has traditionally been written and edited. This includes the administration's views on countries including Brazil and South Africa, while tempering criticisms of El Salvador, a key partner in Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said yesterday the report, quote, addresses abuses

that had not previously been covered. Well, as Canada tries to negotiate a new trade deal and security relationship with the US, Ottawa's trade conflict with China is escalating. Chinese authorities have said they intend to impose a hefty tariff of about 76% on shipments of canola, a move that triggered a sharp drop in canola futures. Canola, also known as rapeseed, represents the biggest cash crop for Canadian food. farmers. China set a probe by the country's Commerce Department concluded that a surge of Canadian canola shipments had harmed China's domestic rapeseed business. Canadian officials rejected

China's allegation that their farmers dump canola onto the Chinese market and were disappointed by the decision, adding that they are prepared to talk with their counterparts in Beijing to address trade concerns. Meanwhile, Canadians have found an easy target to hit back at President Trump's trade tariffs, American booze. Canada first started pulling U.S. made alcohol from shelves earlier this year when Trump first applied a 25% tariff on Canadian goods that aren't compliant with the U.S.MCA trade pact. Journal reporter Vipal Monga says the boycott is costing American distillers and vineyards millions in lost sales. Eight of the country's 10 provinces have stopped buying U.S. alcohol, which is really hurting many

U.S. distillers who depend on Canada as their largest export market. Ontario, home to Canada's largest city, Toronto, sold roughly $700 million worth of wine and spirits last year, but a decree by the provincial government in March forced government-owned liquor stores to remove bottles of Jack Daniels, Makers Mark, and Robert Mondavi Cabernets from their shelves. The Distilled Spirits Council and Industry Group estimated exports of U.S.-made distilled spirits fell about 62% in the first half of the year compared with last year. But Vipal says that while many Canadians are boycotting US alcohol out of a sense of patriotism, others are happy to stock up. Alberta, the oil-rich Western province, started selling

US alcohol and wine in June in a bid to improve the tone in ongoing trade talks between Canada and the US. One retailer there told me that since a boycott was lifted, US wine sales have searched 30% while US whiskey sales are up 7%. Demand is coming from Canadians and other provinces who want to stock up on bourbon and their favourite wines. Canadian goods not compliant with the USMCA are currently subject to 35% tariffs. While providing few details on where the trade impasse is at, Prime Minister Mark Carney has consistently pointed out that about 85% of trade with the US is tariff-free under that trade deal.

And that's it for what's news for this Wednesday morning. Today's show was produced by Daniel Buck. Our supervising producer is Sandra Kilhoff. I'm Azhar Sukri for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.