India real estate, Pakistan crypto, UAE deals: How Trump pocketed nearly Rs 13,000 crore in his second term

US President Donald Trump speaks to the press upon returning to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on January 13, 2026. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP)

President Trump claims his policies sparked an $18 trillion investment surge, but reports show his net worth grew by $1.4 billion since 2025, mainly from overseas and crypto deals. Critics question if his focus is national revival or personal enrichment.

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US President Donald Trump arrived in Davos projecting triumph, boasting that his second stint in the White House was making America “great” and “rich” again. He claimed his aggressive tariff regime and economic policies had triggered an unprecedented $18 trillion investment surge. But behind the bravado, a different story is emerging. While American households grapple with rising costs and shrinking purchasing power, Trump’s personal fortune has ballooned dramatically, prompting growing questions about whether the real project is national revival or personal enrichment.

According to a New York Times analysis, Trump has added at least $1.4 billion to his net worth since returning to office in January 2025. The estimate, based on disclosures and reporting by multiple media organisations, may still understate the full scale of his gains because several revenue streams remain opaque. To put the figure in perspective, the average US household earns about $83,000 annually. Trump’s one-year windfall is more than 16,000 times that amount.

Much of this growth has come from overseas ventures tied to the Trump brand. Through licensing deals, the President has earned roughly $23 million from projects spanning Saudi Arabia, Oman and India. Among them is the Trump World Centre in Pune, the first Trump-branded commercial office project in India, expected to generate nearly $289 million over time. This stands in contrast to Trump’s own rhetoric. Just months earlier, amid trade tensions, he had dismissed India as a “dead economy.”

Similar patterns have played out elsewhere. Vietnam, which faced steep US tariffs of 46 percent last year, later approved a $1.5 billion Trump Organisation golf project near Hanoi. Soon after, the tariffs were reduced to 20 percent. Local media reports suggested regulatory shortcuts were used to accelerate the project, raising questions about the overlap between trade pressure and private business interests.

Cryptocurrency has emerged as an even bigger money-spinner. Trump-linked World Liberty Financial and a meme coin venture generated at least $867 million in the past year. In one striking case, a UAE-based firm reportedly invested $2 billion into a Trump-linked entity shortly before Washington approved semiconductor chip sales to Abu Dhabi.

It is within this context that Pakistan’s recent courtship of Trump stands out. During his first term, Trump accused Islamabad of offering the US nothing but “lies” and “deceit” over counterterror cooperation. Yet today, Pakistan has found favour again, coinciding with a reported crypto-related deal valued at around Rs 17,000 crore. For critics, the shift reinforces the perception that transactional benefits, not strategic principles, are driving Trump’s foreign policy warmth.

Trump’s sons and family trusts now hold stakes worth over $5 billion in World Liberty Financial, making crypto the largest pillar of the Trump fortune. As Trump lectures the world about economic revival, the numbers suggest a more personal success story unfolding in parallel. For countries like Pakistan, aligning with this reality may offer short-term access, but it also exposes how quickly moral postures can give way to financial convenience.