In a moment of inadvertent branding genius, President Trump is poised to begin profiting from a new corrupt scheme called the Trump Billionaires Club, a “Mobile and Web” game that is expected to launch on the Apple App Store on May 5.
The new game appears to be another vehicle to gin up trading for $TRUMP, Trump’s memecoin, of which he takes a cut of every trade, which has already made him and his partners hundreds of millions of dollars. Last week, he promoted it again by selling access to himself and “18 of the World’s Most Influential SUPERSTARS” at an event at Mar-a-Lago. The website states that “The Trump Billionaires Club game uses $TRUMP Coin for all in-game activity” which means that Trump could profit from trading fees associated with the game, and through a licensing agreement with Freedom45Games to use the Trump name.
Trump hardly needed another vehicle for presidential profiteering. Forbes pegs his net worth at $6.5 billion, and the New Yorker estimates that he made at least $4 billion during his first year back in office (the most lucrative year of his life). He already has a vastly expanding merchandise store, foreign real estate development empire, cryptocurrency venture and publicly traded media company. But apparently the chance to put his name and likeness on another crypto grift was too much to pass up.
While everyday Americans are facing higher prices thanks to Trump’s policies and war in Iran, his choice to make money from a game called the Trump Billionaires Club is especially galling—but at least it’s accurate. The Trump administration truly is a billionaires club.
At least 12 billionaires have served in Trump’s second administration, including Elon Musk, the richest person in the world, who Trump famously granted free rein to cut government services that regular Americans depend on. Three billionaires—Howard Lutnick, Linda McMahon and Kelly Loeffler—have official cabinet positions, and all have survived recent turmoil in Trump’s cabinet.
At least 25 American billionaires donated nearly $500 million to support Trump’s reelection, according to CREW’s analysis of campaign finance data.
At least 13 billionaires attended Trump’s second inauguration, including several of the richest people in the world.
Trump has pardoned at least four billionaires for fraud, failure to prevent money laundering and campaign finance crimes: Changpeng Zhao, Joe Lewis, Julio M. Herrera Velutini and Trevor Milton.
Forbes found that at least 32 billionaires have visited Mar-a-Lago since Trump’s reelection in 2024. Trump’s presidency has been lucrative for them, with 25 of the 32 increasing their net worth a collective $700 billion during the last year.
Several foreign billionaires have received benefits from Trump or his administration after interactions with his businesses: the Trump administration granted a Venezuelan oil license to Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s firm after it paid the Trump Organization $10 million, the Trump administration also granted the UAE access to AI chips after Emirati billionaire Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan invested in World Liberty Financial, Trump suggested to another Emirati billionaire and Mar-a-Lago member Hussain Sajwani that he could secure expedited review for his data centers, and the Syrian Al-Khayyat family successfully lobbied for sanctions to be lifted while negotiating partnership on a development deal in Albania with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.
American billionaires have also benefited massively from Trump’s presidency and his policies, with their wealth growing by an estimated $1.5 trillion during his first year back in office and their tax bills tumbling due to Trump’s signature tax bill.
Trump’s second term is clearly an administration of, by and for billionaires. Now this new game is rolling out the branding to match Trump’s insatiable quest to squeeze as much personal profit out of public service as he can. But it’s everyday Americans who are getting played.
Screenshot from trumpbillionairesclub.com
