Donald Trump Jr. says the family “went all-in on crypto” only after being “de-banked,” claiming that once his father entered politics, “all of a sudden [bankers] wouldn’t take your call.”
In a CNBC interview, he recalled a pre-2016 era when any New York lender would back a Trump real-estate deal, then argued that politics—not credit risk—cut off access to traditional finance.
“We were actually in the shoes of the regular guy that wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the markets,” he said. “And we said, what’s the solution for that? The answer is crypto.”
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Hard evidence shows at least some major lenders did walk away, but for reputational rather than ideological reasons. Deutsche Bank—long the Trump Organization’s primary financier—publicly severed ties days after the 6 January 2021 Capitol riot, citing “heightened risk.” Capital One subsequently closed several Trump-linked accounts, prompting a lawsuit that accuses the bank of “political retaliation.”
Denied cheap leverage, the Trumps pivoted to unregulated capital markets. In January 2025 they floated $TRUMP, a Solana-based meme coin, selling 200 million tokens in an initial coin offering that pushed the asset’s fully-diluted value above $27 billion—leaving 800 million tokens on the family books.
Crypto-analytics firm TRM Labs calls the token “relatively stable” by memecoin standards but stresses that assets launched by political figures pose “unique money-laundering and influence-buying risks.” Ethics lawyers have already compared the coin to a “digital super-PAC,” noting that buyers can be anonymous foreigners—an impossibility for regulated campaign donors.
Information for this briefing was found via the sources mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
One Response
“We were actually in the shoes of the regular guy that wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the markets,” he said. “And we said, what’s the solution for that? The answer is crypto.”
In other words, where real regulations apply and nobody can slip by any regulations…..boo hoo. What you didn’t like the real world of the regular guy?