Ahead of Senate Crypto Vote, Warren and Colleagues Seek Vote on Senate Floor to Stop Trump’s Self-Dealing, End Presidential Corruption in Banking

Ahead of Senate Crypto Vote, Warren and Colleagues Seek Vote on Senate Floor to Stop Trump's Self-Dealing, End Presidential Corruption in Banking

"Donald Trump is now the first President in history to own and oversee his own bank. It may be the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen."

"Instead of further enriching the President, Congress should curb his corruption. Let's start by passing my bill, the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act. And let's make sure we do not pass a crypto bill that will let Trump continue to rake in billions in crypto profits while working families across this country suffer under his economy."

Watch Speech Here

Washington, D.C. - Today on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee urged her Senate colleagues to give unanimous consent to pass the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act. The effort comes in light of recent news that World Liberty Trust Company, a bank owned in part by President Trump and his family, received preliminary approval for a federal banking charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Despite clear national security risks, money laundering vulnerabilities, and a lack of competent management, the Trump-controlled federal banking agency approved the charter.

The Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act would terminate this charter, while also prohibiting federal banking agencies from approving various types of banking applications when the applicant is owned by certain senior government officials.

Warren is seeking this floor vote ahead of the Senate voting to proceed on the Clarity Act tomorrow, which will not prevent the President from making his next $1.4 billion in crypto profits, including from this bank charter.

Below are Ranking Member Warren's remarks as prepared for delivery:

Senator Warren: Tomorrow, the Senate will vote on a crypto bill that poses massive risks to families, our national security, and our economy. And if that's not bad enough, while Americans across the country suffer from an affordability crisis, this bill will turbocharge President Donald Trump's ability to rake in billions and billions of dollars from crypto.

Late last night, we got the details of President Trump and Republicans' quote "final offer" on ethics, and it reads exactly like what you expect the most corrupt President in our history to bless: a weak fig leaf that will do nothing to stop him from making his next $1.4 billion in crypto profits.

First, it makes sure the law could never be enforced against Donald Trump because it gives his political appointees the power to turn off enforcement of these ethics provisions. Second, it contains major loopholes designed to allow President Trump to keep earning billions of dollars from his crypto businesses, including World Liberty Financial…and his new bank. Yes you heard that right.

On August 14, World Liberty Trust Company received preliminary approval for a federal banking charter. Donald Trump and his family own 38.25% of the bank. An investment fund backed by the UAE's national security adviser and brother of the UAE's President, reportedly owns 49% of the bank. The bank charter was conditionally granted by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a federal banking agency controlled by…Donald Trump.

Donald Trump is now the first President in history to own and oversee his own bank. It may be the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen. The bank could serve as the financial hub of the President's web of corruption. With a bank charter, World Liberty will be able to operate nationwide, offer families and businesses financial products and services, and enjoy the credibility that comes with the federal government's stamp of approval.

The bank's primary product is the USD1 stablecoin, which is currently issued by a third party bank partner under a licensing agreement with World Liberty. The stablecoin arrangement earned President Trump $200 million last year - a big chunk of the $1.4 billion he earned from his various crypto ventures in 2025. USD1 is already the 5th largest stablecoin in the world. Now with the federal banking charter, World Liberty can issue the stablecoin directly without a separately regulated bank partner. The charter could supercharge the growth of USD1, increase its interconnectedness with the U.S. financial system, and, as a result, drive even greater profits for President Trump and his family.

Donald Trump's bank is a new vehicle for billionaires, corporations, and foreign countries to bribe him. These entities could cut Trump into everyday transactions and business deals by making payments using USD1 instead of traditional checks, debit cards, or wire transfers.

Trump could charge transaction fees, similar to Visa and Mastercard, and generate interest by investing the cash deposited with World Liberty in exchange for the USD1 stablecoin, similar to the business model of a traditional bank.

This is not hypothetical. We already saw this play out last year, a trial run before World Liberty secured the bank charter. MGX, a UAE state-owned investment fund, made a $2 billion investment in the crypto exchange Binance. Instead of using a fiat currency like the U.S. dollar or the UAE dirham to purchase stock in Binance, MGX paid Binance using USD1, cutting Trump into the deal.

Coincidentally, President Trump pardoned the founder of Binance, who had pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program. Trump has also provided an array of policy favors to the UAE, including giving the UAE a special exemption from U.S. export controls and approving sales of advanced AI chips to UAE firms, despite reported warnings from national security officials that the technology could get diverted to China.

Now with Trump's federal bank charter, we could see more and more of this.

Even setting aside the clear conflict of interest and corruption, World Liberty's charter application would have been flatly denied under any previous administration due to national security risks, anti-money laundering vulnerabilities, and a lack of competent management.

Consider this:

• A foreign intelligence official backed a minority investment in the entity behind Trump's bank.

• Companies affiliated with Trump's bank reportedly:
  • sold millions of dollars-worth of tokens to buyers that conducted business with North Korean state-sponsored hackers, sanctioned Russian money-laundering entities, and other illicit actors;
  • partnered with a venture whose main project was led by individuals sanctioned by the U.S. government; and
  • accepted $100 million from a businessman reportedly under investigation for money laundering by the United Kingdom.

• Most of the executives in charge of Trump's bank have little to no experience in banking. The bank's founder and President, Zachary Witkoff, who also happens to be the son of President Trump's Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff, has never worked in a senior banking role.

• One of the bank's board members was the Chairman and CEO of an accounting company that was subject to multiple SEC and PCAOB enforcement actions, including for quote "systemic quality control failures and violations of audit standards."

• The Chief Compliance Officer of Trump's bank previously served as the Chief Compliance Officer of a large crypto platform that blew up in 2022 called Voyager Digital. The platform faced multiple enforcement actions from state and federal regulators for compliance failures, including luring customers to store their money on the platform by falsely claiming the money would be FDIC insured.

But Donald Trump owns the bank and he controls the federal banking agency responsible for approving the charter, so the application was rubber stamped.

Now it's on Congress to step in and terminate this corrupt bank charter. That's exactly what the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act would do. The bill would prohibit federal banking agencies from approving various types of banking applications when the applicant is owned or controlled by a range of senior government officials. It would also require the termination of any such charters or applications that were granted since January 20, 2025, which includes World Liberty's national bank charter.

This is common sense. It is the least Congress could do to start unwinding the President's web of corruption.

Unfortunately, my Republican colleagues want to move in the opposite direction. They seem intent on furthering President Trump's corruption. Look no further than the Senate's first order of business after August recess. Is it a bill to make life more affordable for American families? No. Is it a bill to end Trump's dangerous War in Iran? No. It's a bill that would juice the value of President Trump's crypto empire, and reward the crypto billionaires who have facilitated his corruption. As if the glaring loopholes in the latest ethics provision weren't enough, it doesn't even apply to Donald Trump's new bank.

Instead of further enriching the President, Congress should curb his corruption. Let's start by passing my bill, the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act. And let's make sure we do not pass a crypto bill that will let Trump continue to rake in billions in crypto profits while working families across this country suffer under his economy.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to immediate consideration of the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act.

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