CNN’s Anderson Cooper was stunned on Tuesday night (January 20) when he read a New York Times report that Donald Trump‘s wealth has increased by more than $ 1.4 billion since he returned to the White House last January.
“It’s been clear that the president and his family have been profiting hugely during Mr. Trump’s first year in office,” Cooper said on Tuesday’s edition of Anderson Cooper 360. “But today, the New York Times editorial board published an estimate of just how much they’ve raked in over the past 12 months. By their accounting, it’s at least $1.4 billion.”
The host went on to say this includes money made from licensing deals, overseas real estate projects, investments in cryptocurrencies, the Amazon documentary about Melania Trump and her family, and more.
Cooper discussed the report with the Times‘ Ross Buettner, calling it “staggering… a figure of $1. 4 billion, I mean, it’s closer to $1.5 billion. It’s incredible.”
When asked if the figure shocked him, Buettner replied, “It’s absolutely shocking. I think it’s been shocking every month… This amount is really greater than the sum total of everything he made from his inheritance, from being on The Apprentice, and all the licensing deals while he was on The Apprentice.”
“And this is just the first year,” Cooper added. “It seems like there’s no reason why… I mean, they’re open for business.”
“They’re open for business, and they’ve been expanding things on a regular basis, especially into cryptocurrencies,” Buettner explained. “They are rapidly trying to gather every sort of business that they can.”
Cooper said, “The brazenness of it is incredible.”
Viewers reacted to the segment, with one YouTube commenter writing, “Why is the government letting him get away with this? Is he not accountable for anything?”
“Next administration should seize the assets and give back to the taxpayers,” said another.
“How can anyone be surprised. Yet, how much is it costing taxpayers to pu his name on everything and changing names of major agencies…DOW? WAKE UP FOLKS!” another added.
Another wrote, “Mmm. I thought there was something in the US constitution about the President using he office to enrich himself. And why aren’t our elected politicians doing something about.”
“That is staggeringly immoral,” said one commenter.
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