On CNBC’s Squawk Box, host Joe Kernen asked the eldest son of President Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., “Is that okay for your dad to have a meme coin?” Trump, Jr. replied, “Of course, when he did that before he was in office, he did these things.”
Note: The Trump meme coin was launched on January 17, 2025, three days before the inauguration.
Trump Jr. provided this explanation as to why the Trump family is “all into crypto.” He said: “Because there was a time…I could call any single banker in New York City, they pick up the phone, I’d be able to get a loan for whatever real estate project I was doing across the street, then we got into politics and all of a sudden they wouldn’t take your call. You couldn’t get financing. We were debanked.”
“Debanking” is when a bank closes the account of a customer who is considered “high risk” — or as Wikipedia defines it, a customer who represents “financial, legal, regulatory, or reputational risk to the bank.”
[Note: In 2024, New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump and his company, the Trump Organization (run by his sons Donald Jr. and Eric) “repeatedly” violated state fraud law misrepresenting the value of some of his properties and his overall net worth which allowed him to obtain loan rates and other financial terms that they otherwise wouldn’t have received.]
CNBC: Is it okay for your dad to have a meme coin?
— Ron Smith (@Ronxyz00) June 3, 2025
Don Jr: Listen,.. we were debanked… We got into it out of necessity 🤔 pic.twitter.com/FQJ79qXQCJ
Trump, Jr. also said that he and his brother Eric realized at one point “that we were just at the top of this pyramid scheme that we didn’t realize we were a part of, that the financial system was totally undemocratized, because we had a certain balance sheet or whatever, we can kind do whatever we wanted. The regular guy was messed up.”
He added, “Now, we were all of a sudden in the shoes of the regular guy who wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the market. That’s when we said, ‘what’s the solution for that?’ The answer is crypto.”
He added, “We got into it out of necessity. We got into it because we realized how quickly we could be turned off.”
Trump, Jr. is hearing criticism on X for his “regular guy” assertions, including from one commenter who replied: “I guess if you define ‘necessity’ as wanting to profit wildly by selling your political influence and access to people who really don’t want investment transaction visibility or regulation .. then he has a point.”
Another provided the following counter to Trump Jr.’s claim: “This narrative of ‘debanking’ contrasts with historical financial dealings of the Trump family, as traditional banks have often continued to lend to Donald Trump despite past business failures, suggesting a strategic pivot towards crypto might be more about opportunity than necessity, especially given the political and financial climate around cryptocurrency in 2025.”
[In March, President Trump signed an Executive Order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a US Digital Asset Stockpile.]
Note: Tuesday afternoon on X, Donald Trump Jr. warned MAGA supporters of another wallet product using an image of the President (as see below via BitCoin magazine).
Trump Jr. wrote that “The Trump Organization has zero involvement with this wallet product. @EricTrump and I know nothing about it. Stay tuned—World Liberty Financial @worldlibertyfi, which we have been working tirelessly on, will be launching our official wallet soon.”
The Trump Organization has zero involvement with this wallet product. @EricTrump and I know nothing about it. Stay tuned—World Liberty Financial @worldlibertyfi, which we have been working tirelessly on, will be launching our official wallet soon. https://t.co/h1wO7dy6AX
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 3, 2025
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