President Donald Trump confirmed that he is a co-owner of World Liberty Financial, but said he knows “nothing about it,” in a 60 Minutes interview with CBS News. The interview was recorded at the White House on Friday, Nov. 6, and published Nov. 8.
Trump’s remarks came in response to questions from interviewer Ross Douthat about the project’s reported ties to the United Arab Emirates and whether that did not amount to corruption.
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Democrats Gain Subpoena Power
The exchange was Trump’s first sit-down interview since Tuesday’s midterm elections, in which Republicans lost both the House and the Senate. Mike Katz, a partner at Manatt, said on Unchained on Nov. 5 that congressional committees “now have subpoena power” and predicted they would examine World Liberty’s funding and its links to the UAE and Saudi Arabia. “I think they’re gonna be looking for self-dealing,” Katz said.
The Divestment Question
Douthat asked, “Why not just divest?” Trump answered that the bulk of his fortune is handed to the biggest firms on Wall Street to invest in index funds. He asked Douthat in the interview, “how do you divest from cash?” He also pointed to his family business: “My sons run the company.”
Douthat also asked whether the overseas investors in the business, which Trump co-owns with his sons, think their money buys them influence. “I don’t know,” Trump replied, adding that presidents have faced the same problem “going back to George Washington.” When Douthat countered that not every president has owned “a cryptocurrency company,” Trump said earlier presidents owned “whatever crypto was at the time,” citing oil.
Douthat also cited a Forbes report that Trump’s net worth had risen by $3 billion since he returned to office. Trump replied that “so did everyone” and said, “I devote almost no time to my net worth.”
Katz said on Unchained that the Trump family’s crypto dealings would be a focus for the new Democratic majorities. “I think it’s an important target,” he said.
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