Up First from NPR How the Presidency is Making Trump Richer
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Feb 8, 2026 
David Kirkpatrick, New Yorker reporter who tallied Trump family finances, offers a conservative accounting of profits tied to the presidency. He outlines merchandising and legal-fee schemes. He walks through media, crypto and hospitality windfalls. He details luxury gifts, foreign deals and finance arrangements that swelled family revenues.
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Near-$4B Minimum Accounting
- David Kirkpatrick estimates the Trump family made almost $4 billion in about a year into the second term.
- He counted only gains unlikely to have happened without the presidency to make a conservative minimum estimate.
Merch Became Real Revenue
- Merch unexpectedly became a reliable personal revenue stream for the Trumps, separate from campaign funds.
- Kirkpatrick counts roughly $27.7 million from Trump-branded merchandise as presidency-driven profit.
Campaign Loopholes Converted To Personal Use
- Trump converted campaign-style mechanisms into personal profit, including diverting merch revenue and using campaign funds for legal fees.
- Kirkpatrick estimates about $100 million in campaign-funded legal defenses plus merch, totaling ~$127.7 million.