THE BUSINESS OF TRUMP

LONG BEFORE DONALD TRUMP was president of the United States, he was a brand—the TV billionaire known for his gaudy properties, his celebrity hobnobbing, and a sprawling universe of products bearing his name, from resorts to steaks to continuing education courses.

- PAOLO CONFINO AND LEO SCHWARTZ

That brand has grown massively since, and now powers a media company and crypto operation that have added billions to Trump’s net worth.

During his first term, critics complained that the president's corporate empire was riddled with conflicts of interest and offered abundant opportunities to buy influence—when foreign dignitaries stayed at his luxury hotels during official state visits, for example. (Trump, in response, maintained that he took steps to distance himself from his holdings, such as placing some of his assets in a revocable trust managed by his son Donald Jr.)

The complaints look quaint in hindsight. As Trump's portfolio and wealth have grown and entered new sectors, they now provide myriad new avenues through which Trump and his family can amass more wealth, potentially with the help of political allies or business partners, with little public visibility.

While Trump spent most of his career as a real estate developer, his empire has expanded from the steel and concrete of New York skyscrapers to the fiber-optic cables of Silicon Valley. At the tender age of 78, he has now become a tech mogul. But one thing hasn’t changed: the brand. The main product Donald Trump is selling to customers, and the core of any pitch to investors, is Donald Trump.

Lately, his holdings have become even more dependent on his name: in media, with Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG); and crypto, with World Liberty Financial and his $Trump memecoin. “There's been a shift from this physical Trump brand to this online Trump brand,” says Jordan Libowitz, vice president at the watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.