‘Everybody is profiting’: Trump dismisses questions about over $1bn in crypto earnings
While fielding questions from reporters ahead of his flight to North Dakota today, Donald Trump batted down questions about the $1.2bn he earned from crypto businesses, according to his latest annual financial disclosure.
“We have funds that run my money well. I’ve made a lot of money before I became president,” Trump said. “They’re big institutions, and they run it … I think it’s called a ‘blind account’, but they basically they take it, and I purposely I never speak to any of the people that run the money.”
Trump went on to say that “everybody is profiting” from the presidency, “because the stock market’s going up”.
He added: “So we’re all profiting. I’m profiting because I have a lot of money and a lot of cash, and I give it to institutions.”
Key events
New polling shows Democrats have uphill battle ahead of competitive Senate races
New polls from the New York Times/Siena, shows that of the six Senate races that Democrats are targeting to regain control of the upper chamber, only one – North Carolina – shows the Democratic nominee leading outside the margin of error.
In order for Democrats to take control of the Senate they need to flip at least four Republican-held seats. Right now, the key battlegrounds – Alaska, Iowa Maine, Ohio and Texas – show the Democratic nominee either trailing behind their challenger, or ahead by just a few points.
In North Carolina, former Democratic governor Roy Cooper, is ahead of his opponent Michael Whatley, the former Republican National Committee chairman, by seven points. They are both vying to fill a Senate seat by the outgoing GOP lawmaker Thom Tillis.
The poll also shows Donald Trump’s average overall approval rating stood at 43%, with 54 % disapproving. In an increasingly nationalized midterm cycle, the executive’s performance could have an impact down ballot, particularly for Republican incumbents.
Colorado Democratic primaries show rise in anti-Washington sentiment
Chris Stein
Anti-Washington sentiment coursed through Colorado’s elections on Tuesday. In the race to replace term-limited Democratic governor, Jared Polis, Colorado’s attorney general, Phil Weiser, edged out the US senator Michael Bennet, according to results reported by the Associated Press. Though Bennet, who has represented Colorado in the Senate since 2009, had entered the race an early favorite, Weiser scuppered his campaign by accusing him of not taking a hard enough line against Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees.
In the state’s most competitive House district, the progressive state representative Manny Rutinel defeated a more moderate Democrat, according to the Associated Press, to face Republican congressman Gabe Evans in November. Evans is considered vulnerable and the seat is among a handful of congressional districts across the country that could determine control of the House.
Meanwhile, the incumbent senator John Hickenlooper fended off a progressive challenge from state senator Julie Gonzalesto win renomination. He will face the Republican nominee, Mark Baisley, a state senator who ran unopposed.
Ahead of taking off for North Dakota, Trump also said that he told Bill Pulte – his controversial pick as acting director of national intelligence – to “declassify whatever you want”. A reminder that Pulte is set to be replaced by Jay Clayton provided that he clears the confirmation process in the Senate.
Some Republicans balked at Trump’s decision to install Pulte – who has no background in intelligence – to temporarily replace Tulsi Gabbard.
Trump abruptly called off a Senate confirmation hearing for Clayton last month, and directed him not to appear in front of Senate lawmakers. Instead, Clayton – who currently serves as US attorney for the Southern District of New York – will sit before lawmakers later in July.
‘Everybody is profiting’: Trump dismisses questions about over $1bn in crypto earnings
While fielding questions from reporters ahead of his flight to North Dakota today, Donald Trump batted down questions about the $1.2bn he earned from crypto businesses, according to his latest annual financial disclosure.
“We have funds that run my money well. I’ve made a lot of money before I became president,” Trump said. “They’re big institutions, and they run it … I think it’s called a ‘blind account’, but they basically they take it, and I purposely I never speak to any of the people that run the money.”
Trump went on to say that “everybody is profiting” from the presidency, “because the stock market’s going up”.
He added: “So we’re all profiting. I’m profiting because I have a lot of money and a lot of cash, and I give it to institutions.”
It’s also worth noting that this is Trump’s first flight on the new Air Force One, which is a plane donated by the government of Qatar last year, and costs $400m.
Here’s a bit more background on the new luxury jet from my colleague Edward Helmore.
As he boarded the new Air Force One today, Donald Trump noted that the ceasefire negotiations in Qatar on the war in Iran – led by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner – are “getting along very well”. The president also praised the price of gas.
Since the announcement of the 60-day pause, the price of oil and the cost of fuel has dropped. According to AAA, the average price for a gallon of gasoline is now $3.84, which is down from $4.32 a month prior, but still higher than the price a year ago – $3.17.
Johnson sends House members home for early recess amid GOP rebellion
House speaker Mike Johnson has sent members home for the 4th July recess early, after failing to unfreeze floor business amid a rebellion from several members of his own party. The group of GOP lawmakers have blocked debate on the annual Pentagon spending bill, in protest of ensuring that Donald Trump’s sweeping voter ID legislation is passed.
Johnson tried to appease members by merging Trump’s prized bill – which requires proof of citizenship while registering to vote – with the National Defense Authorization act (NDAA) upon passage of the latter. This would effectively send both bills together to the Senate.
However, a procedural vote on the package failed by a vote of 224 to 198. With hardline Republicans saying that this method would make it easier for the upper chamber to do away with the Save America act when it arrives.
Although the Save America act has advanced in the House, it remains stalled in the Senate, and now gaggle of Republican represenatives – all allies of the president – have essentially blocked any movement on other legislation to pressure the upper chamber. House members aren’t set to return to Capitol Hill until 13 July.
The move to send members home early is a defeat for Johnson, who has been unable to repair the schism within lower chamber GOP members over the bill. The far-right coalition who is leading the revolt say that the elections bill should be attached to defense department spending bill. However, John Thune, the top Senate Republican has said that the voter ID legislation is unable to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold.
Donald Trump is travelling to Medora, North Dakota today, where he’ll deliver remarks at 3:15pm ET to mark the opening of Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. We’ll be watching the latest as that gets underway.
We’ll also bring you the latest lines as the president arrives in the Peace Garden state. He’ll take part in a train ride and welcome ceremony for America’s 250th anniversary celebration at 1:10pm ET.
Trump to attend opening of Roosevelt library amid overturning conservation efforts
Dharna Noor
Donald Trump will attend a ribbon cutting for the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library on Wednesday, touting the legacy of a president his own administration is attempting to destroy, critics say.
While in office from 1901 to 1909, Roosevelt established five new national parks, protected swaths of land and passed legislation enabling himself and future presidents to proclaim historic landmarks and other objects of historic or scientific interest in federal ownership as national monuments.
By contrast, Trump’s administration is removing protections for wildlife, critics say.
While in office, for instance, Doug Burgum, Trump’s interior secretary, has rolled back safeguards under the Endangered Species Act, as well as protections for migratory birds and swathes of federal waters.
“Roosevelt believed that preserving America’s natural heritage and outdoors birthright was a sacred obligation,” said Jayson O’Neill, spokesperson for conservation campaign Save Our Parks. “Doug Burgum is destroying that heritage for Trump’s whims, allies, and political donors.”
The Guardian has contacted the interior department and White House for comment.
Jessica Glenza
Nearly 500,000 moderate-income New Yorkers will be dumped from their health insurance plans on 1 July – the first of major coverage losses expected as a result of HR 1, the Republican-led law signed almost exactly one year ago.
The law, sometimes called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” slashed government health spending by $911bn nationally in favor of permanent tax breaks for higher-income families and border security.
“It’s an all hands on deck situation,” said Maia Dillane, senior director of strategy and implementation at the Arab-American Family Support Center (AAFSC), based in New York City, where the bulk of this summer’s coverage losses are expected.
The AAFSC is one of 20 community-based organizations working with the Community Service Society of New York to find people new health coverage.
But even as community organizations work against a deadline – people have to find new coverage within 60 days or wait until “open enrollment” in November – they expect many simply will not be able to afford the new costs.
California governor Gavin Newsom says Donald Trump “got richer” from his cryptocurrency activities, while his supporters got “rug-pulled”.
In a post on X, Newsom wrote:
Trump’s financial disclosures showed exactly how his crypto play worked: He got richer.
His crypto supporters got rug-pulled.
Democratic socialist Melat Kiros defeats 15-term incumbent in Colorado House primary
Chris Stein
The democratic socialist Melat Kiros unseated long-serving US representative Diana DeGette in Colorado’s primary elections held on Tuesday, the latest in a string of high-profile victories for the party’s insurgent left.
The Associated Press reported that Kiros had defeated DeGette for the Democratic nomination in the deep-blue first congressional district centered on Denver. Kiros’s triumph came a week after New York voters unseated two Democratic congressional incumbents and replaced a third who was retiring with candidates who had campaigned on standing up to Israel amid accusations that it was carrying out a genocide in Gaza.
Her success in the solidly Democratic 1st District all but ensures her election in November.
Kiros, 29, was born in Ethiopia in 1997 – the year DeGette arrived in Congress – and graduated from law school at the University of Notre Dame in 2022. The following year, she wrote a blog post rejecting accusations that law students who protested Israel’s counterattack after 7 October were antisemitic. The New York law firm where Kiros was working fired her after she refused to take the post down, and she then went into politics.
After announcing her run for Congress, Kiros picked up endorsements from progressive senator Bernie Sanders, as well as the Democratic Socialists of America and Justice Democrats, progressive groups that had also been involved in New York’s primaries.
White House rejects conflict-of-interest concerns as Trump earns $1.2bn from crypto ventures in 2025
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.
The White House said that Donald Trump has “proudly made the United States the crypto capital of the world” after the president recorded around $1.2bn in income from his family’s cryptocurrency activities.
In his second term, the president and his family have heavily invested in digital money and various crypto businesses, giving a substantial boost to his income.
According to a 927-page document released by the US Office of Government Ethics on Tuesday, Trump received nearly $550m from his ties to the startup World Liberty Financial in 2025.
World Liberty Financial (WLF) was co-founded in September 2024 by Trump’s sons and the son of Trump’s Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff.
“Neither the president nor his family has ever engaged – or will ever engage – in conflicts of interest,” principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement to AFP, rejecting any ethical concerns.
Kelly said Trump had “proudly made the United States the crypto capital of the world.”
“All actions by president Trump and his administration are taken in the best interest of the American people – and any so-called reporters pushing otherwise are recycling the same, tired, false narrative that Democrats and the legacy media have been pushing for a decade,” Kelly added.
The filings also mention $635m in royalties received under a licensing agreement related to the $TRUMP cryptocurrency, launched just hours before the president’s inauguration in January 2025.
The president’s crypto activities are the main reason for the near tripling of his personal fortune, which rose from $2.3bn to $6.5bn between 2024 and 2026, according to Forbes.
Read the full story here:
In other developments:
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The US supreme court upheld the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship, affirming that nearly all people born on US soil are American citizens and rejecting a central pillar of Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said this order violated the 14th amendment of the US constitution. More here.
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Meanwhile, the court upheld laws in two conservative states excluding transgender girls and women from competing in female sports in a far-reaching ruling likely to pave the way for similar bans throughout the US and handing Trump a key “culture war” victory. More here.
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The supreme court will consider whether bans on AR-15 rifles and similar semiautomatic firearms are constitutional. The justices said on Tuesday they will hear appeals challenging bans in Connecticut and the Chicago area in the next term. The high court’s announcement comes on the heels of two recent victories for second amendment attorneys and advocates. More here.
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Trump announced that Republicans will stage their first ever national convention ahead of the midterm elections, a move aimed at energizing voters as the party fights to hold its narrow congressional majorities in November. The two-day gathering will take place in Dallas on 9 and 10 September, marking a break from the longstanding tradition of holding national conventions only during presidential election years. More here.
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