US President Donald Trump has vigorously defended his administration's focus on artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, declaring the United States the global leader in both fields and dismissing any concerns over his family's financial involvement in digital assets. In an interview with CNBC's Joe Kernen, Trump framed dominance in cryptocurrency as a national security imperative, warning that any hesitation would allow China to seize the advantage.
Trump: US Must Lead in AI and Crypto or Risk China Taking Over
Trump stated, "The way I view crypto's a little different; we have to be at the top, otherwise China's going to take it over. If we're not going to do it, China's going to get it. It's a big deal, and anything we do, I want to be number one in, and we're number one in crypto, and we're also number one in AI." He added that the US is "leading substantially in AI over China and everybody else."
The President also recounted a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in mid-May, claiming Xi praised the US economic turnaround. "When I was with President Xi three weeks ago, he greeted me, and his first words, I mean, literally, were, 'Wow, you've really done a great job. You've really, because this country was dead; we had a dead country. Now we have the hottest country in the world,'" Trump told CNBC.
Family Crypto Ventures Under Scrutiny After $1.2 Billion Disclosure
The remarks coincide with a 900-page financial disclosure released on June 30 by the US Office of Government Ethics, revealing Trump generated roughly $1.2 billion through cryptocurrency ventures in 2025. The filing, mandatory under a 1978 transparency law, disclosed that Trump secured close to $550 million through the premier token sale of World Liberty Financial, a platform launched in September 2024 with full family backing. Additionally, Trump and his three sons, operating through an intermediary firm named DT Marks Defi, acquired 22.5 billion WLFI tokens currently valued at approximately $1.3 billion.
When asked whether he was aware of his family's exact financial dealings in the crypto sector prior to the public disclosures, Trump replied, "No." He added, "I could know about it. I didn't—I mean, there's nothing illegal, there's nothing wrong with it. I could know." Trump explained the unique challenges his children face in navigating private business during his presidency: "I tell my kids, stay away from as much as you can stay away from, but they also have a life, you know. We were doing business long before I ever thought of it, you knew me a long time before I thought of even running for president."
Trump Credits Business Background for US Economic Success
Leveraging his corporate background, Trump concluded that his mercantile experience remains the driving force behind current American economic exceptionalism. "I've made a lot of money over the years, and I think one of the reasons that I got elected was that we have a business person. If you look at what's happening, we're beating everybody, we're beating China, we're beating every single country. We're the envy of the world," Trump said.
