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The astir infamous financial ungraded successful US statesmanlike history – nan 1920s Teapot Dome matter – progressive President Warren G Harding’s interior caput Albert Fall taking astir $400,000 successful bribes. Adjusted for inflation, that’s astir $6m today. Last year, Donald Trump made astatine slightest $2.2bn; his azygous twelvemonth of income is connected nan bid of 200 to 300 times larger than nan bribe that defined “presidential corruption” successful nan American imagination for a century.
It’s taken for granted that Trump flogs items for illustration Trump Bibles and golden sneakers arsenic a measurement to wring much money from his loyal base. But of nan president’s $2.2bn, astatine slightest $1.4bn came from his crypto businesses. That’s an bonzer achievement, moreover for an unscrupulous sitting president. How precisely did he do it without immoderate anterior inheritance successful crypto?
Many judge nan reply is that he had thief from a Chinese crypto billionaire called Justin Sun.
Sun is possibly astir celebrated for buying an artwork called Comedian – consisting of a banana duct-taped to a wall – for much than $6m, and past eating it. But nan maverick entrepreneur, who refers to himself arsenic “Crypto’s billionaire barker”, is amended known successful Washington arsenic nan existent financial powerfulness down nan Trump family’s crypto luck – investing astir $200m of his ain luck into Trump’s integer plus ventures.
Recently, Sun and nan Trumps’ crypto love-in has curdled into dueling lawsuits – pinch Sun accusing Trump’s crypto company, World Liberty Financial, of illegally freezing his assets, and World Liberty countersuing him for defamation.
I’m a documentary film-maker and complete nan past twelvemonth I’ve been making a movie for nan BBC astir nan adjacent procreation of billionaires. That intends I sewage to talk to Sun during and aft this fortune-and-fallout saga pinch nan Trumps successful aggregate interviews. The communicative of their financial entanglement raises concerning questions astir Trump’s cozy narration to nan crypto industry.
Sun rises
Born successful Qinghai successful north-western China, Sun has made billions from crypto. His first large triumph came successful 2017 pinch his crypto coin called TRX, which he offered connected his Tron blockchain, a global, decentralized package web connected which group tin bargain and waste cryptocurrencies. He told maine it was expected to beryllium for illustration “using blockchain exertion to nonstop money for illustration you nonstop emails connected nan internet”.
It was besides an appealing level for criminals and terrorists to shop their money. “The marquee names are Hezbollah and Hamas,” said Chris Harland-Dunaway, nan Verge’s investigative journalist who reported connected overmuch of Sun’s crypto dealing, “but North Korean hackers besides are progressive users connected nan Tron blockchain.” Some estimate that successful immoderate years almost half of each illicit crypto transactions (such arsenic criminals laundering forbidden proceeds) happened connected Tron.
“He became a benignant of serial entrepreneur successful nan tech space, and he was ever prepared to crook nan rules aliases push exertion arsenic acold arsenic it could spell successful position of what nan authorities were consenting to judge aliases tolerate,” says Harland-Dunaway.
When presented pinch claims astir Tron’s illicit use, Sun said done a spokesperson: “Bad actors exist. The blockchain is conscionable nan latest successful a agelong history of agnostic technologies to beryllium misused – you don’t blasted nan net for cybercrime, aliases rate for supplier trafficking.” The spokesperson said that since launching, Tron helped motorboat nan T3 Financial Crime Unit to combat illicit activities successful September 2024, they person helped frost much than $450m successful illicit assets and been praised by crypto regulators.
But Sun besides likes to deflect questions of illegality pinch crypto idealism, touting his belief successful technology’s powerfulness to bestow individual sovereignty, liberating group from nan strictures of federation and government.
“Eating [a] banana … that’s each they cognize astir [me],” Sun told me. “But I judge successful a world pinch individual sovereignty. So fundamentally everyone tin usage exertion to do thing they want … if crypto wants to succeed, we request to break nan boundaries betwixt accepted finance and nan crypto world. We want 8 cardinal group each connected blockchain.”
But successful March 2023, Sun’s ample luck was threatened by regulators. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), nether nan Biden administration, alleged Sun ran much than 600,000 clone trades betwixt accounts he controlled successful bid to artificially inflate nan trading measurement of TRX. And that he personally pocketed $31m from illegal, unregistered income of TRX.
They besides charged him pinch hiding payments to celebrities who promoted his tokens to nan public. They pointed to a play successful February 2021 erstwhile a bid of surprising celebrities began tweeting astir TRX, nan crypto token associated pinch Tron. Lindsay Lohan, who had antecedently displayed nary liking successful crypto, posted: “Exploring #DeFi and already liking $JST, $SUN connected $TRX. Super accelerated and 0 fee. Good occupation @justinsuntron.” Ne-Yo, Akon, Jake Paul and Lil Yachty each posted akin tweets. It is against conception 17(b) of nan Securities Act for a personage to tout a information without disclosing they are being financially compensated to do so. All 5 celebrities person settled pinch nan SEC for amounts betwixt $40,000 and $200,000 without admitting aliases denying allegations. None person publically commented isolated from Lohan, whose spokesperson clarified she was unaware of nan disclosure requirement.
During nan investigation, Sun avoided nan US retired of fearfulness of an arrest, nan Wall Street Journal reported.
Sun’s spokesperson said he vigorously denied immoderate wrongdoing from time 1 of nan SEC case. On nan rumor of whether Sun avoided nan US for fearfulness of arrest, nan spokesperson said that Tron didn’t participate nan state because he had Covid concerns.
But Gary Gensler, who was past caput of nan SEC, told maine successful April 2024: “We had very important ongoing actions pinch respect to wherever we’ve alleged important fraud astir Justin Sun and Tron,” Gensler said. “This is simply a section that is rife pinch fraud and scams and mischief.”
Then Trump entered nan White House.
A caller friendship
The mostly of Trump’s caller wealthiness comes from his family’s crypto ventures, World Liberty Financial and nan $Trump memecoin. Both ventures are dressed up pinch nan connection of decentralization and financial innovation.
World Liberty Financial was started successful September 2024, founded by Trump, pinch his typical envoy to nan Middle East, Steve Witkoff, a co-founder emeritus. The institution is tally successful portion by Trump’s sons, including Donald Jr, Eric and Barron, arsenic good arsenic Witkoff’s boy Zach. Trump officially stepped down from nan institution erstwhile he took office, but his family spot still owns and profits from it.
The highly method and esoteric quality of crypto is intentionally opaque, but World Liberty Financial fundamentally sells what it calls a “governance token”, $WLFI, which nan institution says allows investors who acquisition it to person a opportunity successful really nan institution is run.
In decentralized finance models, nan costs earned done acquisition of governance tokens are expected to beryllium reinvested into nan token’s ecosystem. But pinch $WLFI, 75% of each profits from token sales spell straight to nan Trump family trust.
It’s an ambitious, brazen connection – 1 that very fewer accepted investors would beryllium apt to spell for. For it to work, it needed a ample injection of rate and support from personification pinch legitimacy successful nan crypto world. Despite nan floor plan of its founders, astatine nan clip of $WLFI’s launch, it struggled to get investment. The founders drastically trim their fundraising target from $300m to $30m.
Then Sun entered nan picture. Shortly aft Trump was elected, Sun bought $75m worthy of $WLFI tokens. Sun’s crypto pedigree gave nan task nan legitimacy it needed to summation further investment, and they soon generated $550m successful token sales. Forbes called Sun’s finance a “bailout”.
“For nan Trump family to get money from this project, they needed to raise much than $20m,” Harland-Dunaway told me. “Justin conscionable knocked it retired of nan parkland – measurement complete that threshold.”
With Sun involved, cognition of nan institution had shifted from probable wheeze to superior imaginable player.
Sun told maine really he first “became a instrumentality of Trump” erstwhile he was increasing up successful Guangdong, China, wherever he learned English by pirating episodes of The Apprentice connected BitTorrent, a institution he would later acquire.
“The Trump family is simply a very important US business family,” Sun said. “So we want to beryllium their important semipermanent partners. It’s not only astir argumentation and decision-making – nan Trump family has its ain brand. The Trump Tower is everyplace … Collaborating pinch Trump tokens will use crypto arsenic a whole.”
The summertime aft his investment, Sun posted a selfie pinch Donald Jr connected Instagram. He besides bought much than $100m worthy of Trump’s memecoin, $Trump, and launched it connected nan Tron level truthful it could beryllium bought and sold there. “$TRUMP connected TRON is nan rate of #MAGA,” Sun tweeted. His first purchases of nan memecoin won him a backstage meal pinch nan president astatine his play people successful Washington DC and a $100,000 aureate Trump watch.
It could beryllium based on that Sun simply saw his liking successful $WLFI arsenic a shrewd finance pinch nan prize of power pinch nan White House, but nan $WLFI tokens were non-transferable astatine nan time, truthful Sun couldn’t rate retired a cent. The Trumps, meanwhile, walked distant pinch an estimated $400m.
So why move truthful overmuch money into nan Trumps’ crypto schemes erstwhile nan returns were being hamstrung? Some person pointed to nan timing of his investment, questioning whether it could beryllium related to an investigation by nan SEC into Sun.
Harland-Dunaway said that a mates months aft Sun invested $75m into $WLFI, “Justin Sun and nan SEC together revenge a mobility to nan judge who’s overseeing nan SEC lawsuit against Justin to put a enactment connected nan lawsuit … This is simply a caller SEC astatine this point. One appointed by Trump.”
Several months aft that, Tron was launched connected nan Nasdaq banal speech via a reverse merger woody that was brokered by Dominari Securities, a patient that names Donald Jr and Eric among its committee of advisers.
In March of this year, nan tribunal dismissed each allegations brought by nan SEC against Sun and Tron Foundation Limited pinch prejudice, meaning nan charges cannot beryllium refiled.
I asked Sun what it meant that Tron had go a publically listed institution contempt nan humanities ineligible accusations against it.
“Yeah, I deliberation it’s conscionable wholly a cleanable reply to each nan unfair accusations before,” he beamed successful response.
When I asked him whether he could person done immoderate of this without nan Trumps, he was speedy to praise them.
“Yeah, I want to definitive my really large appreciation to nan existent Trump administration,” Sun said. “I deliberation they really did everything for crypto [to] hap successful [the] United States and for crypto development.”
The Trumps and Sun person firmly denied immoderate relationship betwixt nan investigation being paused and nan investment. At nan time, nan SEC besides paused respective different civilian cases into crypto companies. The lawsuit against Sun was yet settled, pinch nan SEC agreeing to disregard remaining claims against Sun and nan Tron and BitTorrent foundations successful speech for a $10m punishment paid by Rainberry Inc, nan institution down Sun’s BTT token.
I tried to inquire Sun astir nan narration betwixt nan SEC investigation and his Trump investments successful an question and reply past December successful Hong Kong. I pointed specifically to nan timing of nan SEC investigation being paused, astir nan clip that he invested heavy successful nan Trump family crypto projects.
His PR wouldn’t fto him reply these questions: “No remark connected nan existent case, Matt.” I tried to redirect nan speech to Sun, but he repeated nan “no comment” response.
A spokesperson for Sun later told nan Guardian: “Justin’s crypto purchases are wholly unrelated to nan SEC’s determination to region nan enforcement action against him. The proposal that immoderate crypto acquisition was linked to nan determination to enactment and reappraisal that action is wholly baseless and attempts to create causation from temporal proximity, which is patently contrary to wide reported nationalist attack nan SEC was taking to crypto cases successful wide astatine that aforesaid time.”
But lawmakers person asked questions astir nan timing. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, wrote to nan SEC chair to inquire why Margaret Ryan, nan agency’s head of nan section of enforcement, near her domiciled soon earlier nan SEC dismissed fraud charges against Sun, citing reporting successful Reuters that Ryan wanted to prosecute enforcement against Sun and was blocked. “This is simply a clear illustration of really President Trump’s blatant crypto corruption creates backmost doors for his family’s business partners, creating a pay-to-play enforcement authorities that turns a unsighted oculus to sedate threats to nationalist information and user protection,” Blumenthal wrote.
A typical for Trump told The Guardian: “All of nan president’s assets are successful held successful afloat discretionary accounts managed by independent third-party financial institutions. There are nary conflicts of interest.”
Crypto divorce
In August 2025, nan relationship betwixt Sun and nan Trumps had begun to autumn isolated erstwhile it turned retired Sun didn’t person arsenic overmuch power astatine World Liberty Financial arsenic he thought.
The $WLFI governance token is meant to springiness buyers for illustration Sun nan chance to ballot connected things, but a characteristic written into nan coin’s self-executing machine codification really gives each nan existent powerfulness to a fistful of concealed admins. These anonymous admins person nan method capacity to workout near-total power complete immoderate wallet’s funds, and could theoretically disregard nan results of immoderate vote.
It appeared that these admins softly upgraded nan codification successful August to springiness designated wallets nan powerfulness to frost immoderate holder’s funds. They past unlocked 20% of nan tokens for sale, making nan Trumps an estimated $5bn. But Sun said his tokens were frozen.
“That is nan irony,” Harland-Dunaway said. “They’re evangelizing a decentralized banking strategy connected nan 1 hand. But past erstwhile personification appears to beryllium astir to retreat their finance from their venture, they froze it. Which is simply a very centralized measurement of moving a cryptocurrency project.”
World Liberty Financial alleged Sun had violated finance position by moving astir $9m successful tokens; Sun denied immoderate intent to sell, but by December 2025 his stiff position had mislaid an estimated $60m successful value.
When I asked him astir this successful Hong Kong past December, his sentiment connected World Liberty Financial had shifted drastically from earlier that summer, erstwhile he was heaping evangelical praise connected nan company. Now, he was highly critical.
“Fundamentally speaking, I deliberation they conscionable don’t understand nan worth of cryptocurrency and why it sewage invented successful nan first place,” Sun said. “[World Liberty Financial] spot crypto erstwhile crypto [is] strong, right? So they think, you know: ‘If we are friends pinch crypto, we tin make money, right?’ … It’s worrisome, right, because World Liberty Financial has each nan freezing functions. They tin frost everybody’s assets, which is wrong, and they request to return [that function] out.”
In a statement, representatives for World Liberty Financial said that Sun agreed to World Liberty’s freezing authority, which was spelled retired successful nan token unlock statement that Sun signed.
The statement soon became a ineligible one. Sun sued World Liberty Financial connected 21 April successful California national tribunal complete them utilizing what he called a “backdoor blacklisting function” to frost his tokens. He besides accused them of treating him for illustration a “personal ATM”. World Liberty Financial responded by saying: “See you successful tribunal pal,” and countersued him successful Florida connected 4 May, accusing him of shorting World Liberty and defaming nan company. Both lawsuits stay unresolved, pinch neither side’s allegations yet tested successful court.
Sun’s spokesperson insists Sun still supports Trump and “is convinced that these actions are not astatine each accordant pinch nan President’s values”.
The Trump family owes a awesome woody of its immense crypto windfall to Sun’s support. The profit-per-sale exemplary and top-down power revealed successful their spat pinch Sun raises superior questions astir whether World Liberty Financial was ever genuinely motivated by nan lofty goals of decentralization they projected. Given that their achromatic insubstantial is emblazoned pinch a image of Trump splattered pinch golden paint, and 1 of their co-founders, Chase Herro, erstwhile said of crypto that: “You tin virtually waste crap successful a can, wrapped successful piss, covered successful quality skin, for $1bn if nan story’s right, because group will bargain it,” possibly these questions should person been location from nan start.
For Sun’s part, he astatine slightest claims to still judge successful nan dream of crypto.
“We request to punctual ourselves,” he told me, “why we started crypto successful nan first place. It’s ne'er astir money … we conscionable want to do a financial infrastructure amended than nan accepted one.”
The Trump family are surely still bullish connected crypto. Crypto is not a generator of money – their luck will proceed to grows mostly astatine nan disbursal of mean unit investors who person now mislaid nan billions they collectively ploughed into nan president’s ventures, now besides astatine nan expense of able investors for illustration Sun.
During nan 2023 New York financial fraud suit against him and his 3 eldest children, Trump erstwhile explained why he wanted to go president: “Because of nan brand,” he said. “I deliberation it’s nan hottest marque successful nan world.”
When pressed connected nan full marque worth of being nan US president, he estimated “$10bn.”
Sun’s title agrees that nan marque is valuable, but puts it differently: “World Liberty’s operators person utilized nan task arsenic a aureate opportunity to leverage nan Trump marque to profit done fraud.”
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The Tech Billionaire Takeover is connected BBC iPlayer successful nan UK and BBC Select globally
