Where this was said
Introducing Rebecca Ballhaus and the World Liberty Investigation
At 2:44 · chapter starts 1:25
Jessica Mendoza introduces Rebecca Ballhaus, a Wall Street Journal reporter who has spent the past year investigating how the Trump family is profiting from the presidency, with World Liberty Financial as her central focus. Ballhaus explains that the investigation began with Binance, but the discovery of an entirely separate, hidden player — a UAE royal family member — came as a genuine shock. She recounts the moment her colleague Sam Kessler called her on a weekend with company documents proving the deal. Mendoza lays out the stakes: in less than two years, World Liberty earned the Trumps at least $1.2 billion, significantly from foreign entities. The revelation that a foreign government official had secretly bought into an incoming president's company before inauguration — and that it had never been disclosed — is described as unprecedented in modern American politics.
World Liberty Financial has earned the Trump family at least $1.2 billion in cash in less than two years, much of it from foreign-owned businesses.
In less than two years, World Liberty Financial earned the Trump family at least $1.2 billion in cash. A significant portion came from foreign-owned businesses — raising serious questions about the line between commerce and diplomacy.
The half-billion-dollar stake purchase by a UAE royal in the incoming US president's company was never announced and kept secret until WSJ revealed it in January 2026.
