Nicolai Haugsted
The president allegedly hopes to secure lucrative deals that could benefit his family long after leaving office.
Donald Trump has never made much effort to hide his enthusiasm for wealth. Long before entering politics, he built his public image around luxury properties, extravagant deals and the idea that financial success was the ultimate measure of achievement.
The White House has given the billionaire businessman an entirely different kind of influence, placing him at the center of decisions affecting some of the world’s largest economies.
But according to a writer who has followed Trump for decades, the president’s financial ambitions may be considerably greater than previously understood.
Michael Wolff, Trump’s longtime biographer and an outspoken critic of the president, claims in an inerview with HOWL that people inside the White House have discussed an extraordinary financial target that Trump allegedly hopes to reach before leaving office.
The figure is $20 billion.
Wolff’s account, published on his Substack newsletter Howl, relies on unnamed White House sources. The alleged target has not been independently established, and the White House has strongly attacked the author’s credibility.
Biographer reveals alleged $20 billion target
According to Wolff, Trump’s financial ambitions extend far beyond maintaining the wealth he accumulated before returning to the presidency.
The writer claims that people familiar with the president’s thinking believe he wants to reach a personal financial milestone of $20 billion.
“The number people in the White House say, with due consideration and resigned acceptance—Trump is Trump, after all—that he wants to reach is $20 billion,” Wolff wrote.
He also suggested that Trump wants to establish lucrative arrangements that would continue benefiting his family after his presidency ends.
“And he’d probably like to put in place deals that, when he returns to Mar-a-Lago, can generate for the Trump family $100 million.”
Wolff did not identify the individuals who allegedly discussed these ambitions, nor did he provide documentary evidence establishing that Trump has set such a target.
Nevertheless, the claim arrives amid growing scrutiny of the president’s business activities and the financial interests of his family.
Trump’s cryptocurrency fortune attracts attention
Trump’s financial disclosures have already raised questions about the extraordinary scale of his earnings during his second administration.
According to the financial disclosure released in June, the president reported more than $1.4 billion in income connected to cryptocurrency ventures during 2025.
The reported proceeds included more than $635 million in licensing fees associated with Celebration Coins.
Another $525 million came from token sales involving World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency company Trump established with his sons.
The figures underline the increasingly important role digital assets have played in the Trump family’s business interests.
Other assessments have placed his financial gains even higher.
According to an analysis published by The New York Times, Trump brought in at least $2.2 billion during 2025.
Forbes, meanwhile, estimated in September that the president had become approximately $2.7 billion wealthier since winning the 2024 election.
Those figures reflect different calculations of income and wealth, which are not interchangeable. Reported business revenue also does not necessarily represent money personally available to Trump.
Still, the estimates illustrate the enormous financial stakes surrounding his business empire.
Wolff draws controversial connection to Putin
Wolff’s latest claims go beyond Trump’s domestic business activities.
The biographer argues that the president’s interest in wealth has also influenced his longstanding fascination with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
His commentary followed Trump’s decision to waive sanctions on Russian oil, a move that attracted criticism from observers concerned about Washington’s approach to Moscow.
Wolff suggested that Trump’s interest in Russia dates back decades, particularly to the economic transformation that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union.
“Putin came to power in 1999,” he wrote, describing the consolidation of political and financial influence that followed Russia’s post-Soviet economic upheaval.
“Controlling this new economy became his main political challenge.”
Wolff then outlined his interpretation of Putin’s relationship with Russia’s powerful business elite.
“With great efficacy, he became, in effect, the chief banker and a significant equity holder in this parallel economy. Access to Putin was access to unregulated and unrestricted wealth. Putin was the regulator.”
The author claims Trump recognized the financial opportunities surrounding Russia’s emerging economic system.
According to Wolff, Trump had been “excluded from blue-chip financial sources” and, from the mid-1990s onward, “made continual efforts, both successful and not, to get a piece of the Putin action.”
These assertions represent Wolff’s interpretation of Trump’s financial history and motivations, rather than independently demonstrated evidence of a current financial arrangement between the two presidents.
Biographer suggests wealth matters more than political power
Wolff’s central argument is that Trump views the presidency not simply as a position of political authority, but also as a potential gateway to extraordinary financial opportunities.
The writer condensed that interpretation into a pointed observation.
“Being a president is nice, but being an oligarch is forever,” Wolff wrote.
He went further, suggesting that Trump has continued to see Russia as a particularly attractive source of potential wealth.
“The presidency has certainly given him access to other irregular financial opportunities, but Trump is a creature of habit, and no opportunity has loomed as large in his mind as the money he might make in a partnership of equals with Vladimir Putin. And even not so equal,” Wolff concluded.
The allegations are significant, but Wolff did not establish that Trump and Putin have entered into such a financial partnership.
His argument also does not demonstrate that the president’s decisions concerning Russia have been motivated by personal financial gain.
White House responds with furious personal attack
The White House offered no detailed response to the alleged $20 billion ambition or Wolff’s claims about Russia.
Instead, spokesperson Davis Ingle delivered a blistering attack on the biographer when approached by the Daily Beast.
“Michael Wolff is a professional scumbag and serial liar whose brain has been completely warped by his severe and incurable disease known as Trump Derangement Syndrome,” Ingle said.
The statement reflects the administration’s longstanding hostility toward Wolff, whose books and reporting about Trump have repeatedly generated controversy.
Wolff has built much of his career around accounts of the president’s private behavior and relationships, often relying on conversations with unnamed individuals close to him.
His latest allegations add another layer to the debate surrounding Trump’s financial interests while serving as president.
