How Donald Profits from Dollar Disruptions
By Goldsea Staff | 12 Oct, 2025

His big personal bets on Bitcoin and his own WLF crypto offerings make Donald Trump's dollar-destabilizing tariffs, migrant deportations and endless series of disruptive posts a great way to multiply his fortunes.

Trump's often impulsive and chaotic imposition of tariffs, mass deportation orders and other economically disruptive policies have created uncertainty that has driven down the dollar and spiked the value of crypto assets, especially Bitcoin in which Trump recently invested heavily through his family business.  

In the past six months its value has shot up from about $81,000 to $113,000, an unusually quick 27% appreciation.  By contrast it had risen 11% in the preceding six months, and even that was driven largely by optimism due to Trump's election win after he had made clear his intentions to deregulate the crypto sector.

This intimate connection between Trump's wildly disruptive trade war, especially with China, and the big recent gains by Bitcoin and other crypto assets as safe havens from global currency fluctuations, naturally raises questions as to whether those policies are driven, at least in part, by financial motives.  

Currently the primary source of Donald Trump's wealth is crypto assets held indirectly through his Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), according to a Forbes analysis. 

Until earlier this year the company's main business was operating Truth Social, a social media platform with revenues of less than $4 million a year and over ten times that in losses.  But on the strength of Trump's growing political following it went public on March 26, 2024 through a reverse-merger with a SPAC called Digital World Acquisition Corp.

In May TMTG raised $2.3 billion through sale of shares and heavy borrowing to finance the purchase of $2 billion worth of Bitcoin.  Trump's personal stake in TMTG declined from 52% to 41% due to the share sale, but that still values his personal share of its Bitcoin holdings to about $870 million.

And that's not even counting his crypto assets and revenues through World Liberty Financial which sells WLF tokens, as well as $Trump and $Melania namesake tokens and USD1 stablecoins.  Those sales alone added several hundred million dollars to Trump's wealth precisely as he was eliminating SEC controls over the crypto industry, greatly increasing investments in crypto assets, including purchase of WLF's offerings.

The potential for financially self-interested presidential orders and economically disruptive posts is undeniable.  So we pursued some AI analysis to flesh out the details of the linkage between Trump's policies and his financial interests with the prompt:

Given his recent heavy investments in Bitcoin and other crypto assets, how does Donald Trump gain from creating economic disruptions and uncertainty with tariffs by fiat?

The response to that and some followup questions provides even more reason to be wary of Trump's abuses of power.

ChatGPT:

If we take Donald Trump’s recent crypto-heavy investment position seriously (as multiple disclosures and blockchain analyses suggest), then it makes sense to view his tariff brinkmanship and economic disruptions not just as political theater, but as financially self-interested strategy.

Here’s a breakdown of how he stands to gain:

1. Bitcoin and crypto thrive on macro uncertainty

• Market psychology: When fiat-based systems look unstable — whether from trade wars, inflation, or global tension — investors seek “hard” or alternative stores of value.

• Effect: Tariffs raise import costs, stoke inflation, and shake confidence in traditional markets.

• Trump’s benefit: His large Bitcoin holdings rise in value as more investors flee into crypto as a hedge.

2. Tariffs weaken the U.S. dollar — which boosts crypto

• Tariffs tend to:

  • Increase inflation by raising import prices.

  • Pressure the Federal Reserve to cut rates (to cushion growth).

  • Weaken the dollar’s global standing as a stable reserve currency.

• Crypto correlation: A weaker USD often coincides with stronger Bitcoin prices, since BTC is priced globally in dollars.

• Trump’s incentive: If he personally holds Bitcoin, a softer dollar directly inflates the nominal value of his crypto portfolio.

3. “Economic chaos” re-centers power on personalities, not institutions

• Crypto narratives (like “decentralization” and “escape from government control”) gain traction when governments appear erratic or economically incompetent.

• Trump, as both crypto promoter and populist strongman, benefits politically from the erosion of institutional trust — while his crypto assets appreciate from the same loss of confidence.

4. He sets himself up as the “anti-system” winner

• If tariffs hurt markets, he can later blame the fallout on “globalists,” the Fed, or Democrats — while secretly profiting from the resulting capital flight into Bitcoin.

• This lets him frame himself as victim and visionary simultaneously:

  • Victim: “They sabotaged my economy.”

  • Visionary: “That’s why I backed Bitcoin — America needs financial freedom.”

5. The larger pattern — “controlled disruption”

Historically, Trump’s economic moves often aim to create negotiating leverage through instability.
But now, with crypto in the mix, there’s an added layer:

• Volatility = profit if your assets gain from instability.

• For someone deeply invested in decentralized, non-dollar assets, manufacturing uncertainty becomes a rational (if cynical) play.

In short

Trump’s tariffs-by-fiat are a two-pronged tool:

• Political: Rally his populist base with “America First” economic nationalism.

• Financial: Drive up the value of his crypto holdings by undermining faith in the fiat economy and sparking a flight into digital assets.

I should start with a caveat: publicly available data is patchy, timing is approximate, and it’s often hard to causally link a specific tariff statement to instantaneous moves in Bitcoin or other crypto. But the broad pattern is suggestive and worth mapping out. Below is a rough timeline / correlation sketch and some interpretive notes.

Timeline / Correlation Sketch

Date / PeriodKey Tariff / Policy MoveObservable Crypto / Bitcoin ReactionNotes & InterpretationLate 2024 → Early 2025Trump re-elected, crypto enthusiasm risesBitcoin rises from ~$69,500 on Election Day 2024 to much higher levels (a ~75 % increase or more) (Al Jazeera)Part of a general bullish macro + narrative tailwinds for cryptoJanuary – March 2025Trump issues executive orders toward crypto / digital-asset initiatives (e.g. “crypto reserve,” digital asset stockpile) (Wikipedia)These policies likely create favorable sentiment for crypto and reduce regulatory risk premiumThe establishment of a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” signals institutional legitimacy for Bitcoin (Wikipedia)April 2, 2025“Liberation Day” tariffs announced: baseline 10 %, steeper rates for China, EU etc. (Tangem — 安全なハードウェア & 暗号資産ウォレット)Immediately after the announcement: crypto broadly sells off, Bitcoin drops from near ~$88,000 to ~$82,000 (per one commentary) (Tangem — 安全なハードウェア & 暗号資産ウォレット)The tariff shock induces volatility, triggering liquidations and negative sentimentMid-May 2025Trump issues tariff warnings / EU tariff threatsBitcoin slips below ~$107,500 amid tariff jitters (CoinDesk)The market reacts to uncertainty even before formal tariffsLate May 2025Rebound after volatilityBTC recovers, with strong volume support and institutional bids stabilizing near $103,000+ (CoinDesk)Suggests some capital rotation back into crypto after overshootEarly July 2025Trump announces tariffs on Canada / signals more tariff moves vs. EU (YouTube)Bitcoin rises above $109,000 in anticipation / relief in some periods (The Block)The rising price around these announcements could reflect “safe haven” inflows or speculative positioningJune 2025 DisclosureTrump reports > $600 million in crypto / related income (for 2024) (Reuters)This disclosure doesn’t necessarily move markets (it’s backward-looking) but confirms the depth of his crypto exposureBoosts narratives about conflict of interest and alignment with crypto industry interestsJuly 2025Bitcoin reaches all-time highs near ~$111,988 (Reuters)Strengthened by continued institutional demand and macro momentumThe rally may be partly fueled by capital inflows into crypto as a hedge or speculative asset

Interpretation & Caveats

1. Lag, not instant
   Crypto markets may not move instantaneously on tariff announcements — many effects are anticipatory, filtered through investor sentiment, margin calls, derivatives, and institutional flows.

2. Tariff vs. policy vs. macro backdrop
   Tariff rhetoric is one factor among many (interest rates, inflation, Fed policy, global growth). Sometimes tariffs cause short-term disruption, but the longer-term trend depends on macro fundamentals.

3. Volatility as profit engine
   For a large holder of Bitcoin / crypto, volatility is not just risk — it’s opportunity. Sharp drawdowns (if timed or hedged properly) create better entry points for accumulation or swing trading.

4. Signaling & narrative alignment
   The fact that Trump is simultaneously promoting crypto policy, launching crypto ventures (e.g. World Liberty Financial) and pushing tariff disruption helps align public narrative with his financial incentives. Investors may interpret his policy signals as favoring de-dollarization, decentralization, and institutional adoption of crypto.

5. Reverse causality & feedback loops
   Sometimes rallying crypto may reinforce his confidence in finger-pointing at fiat systems. Success in crypto gives him political cover to push further against traditional institutions or the dollar, which in turn stokes more interest in crypto.

6. Disclosure & opacity
   We don’t know exact timing, sizes, or hedges of his positions. The public disclosures provide annual income and token holdings (e.g. ~15.75 billion $WLFI tokens) (Reuters), but not real-time trades. So while correlation is suggestive, it is not proof of direct causation.

If you like, I can build an interactive price-tariff overlay chart (Bitcoin price + major tariff announcements) so you can visually inspect the alignment.