ICYMI Video: Blumenthal Calls on Republicans to Take Up Legislation Curbing Presidential Corruption, Amend Crypto Legislation to Stop Trump From Profiting Off the Presidency

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) spoke on the Senate floor yesterday to call on Republicans to take up the E nding Presidential Corruption in Banking Act, legislation that would terminate the federal banking charter for World Liberty Financial that was approved by the Trump-controlled Office of the Comptroller of the Currencey and prohibit federal banking agencies from approving banking applications when the applicant is owned by certain senior government officials. “Mr. President, I’m here thinking about all the Americans who are working on manufacturing plants assembly lines, all the Americans who are teaching our kids in schools or patrol our schools as police or working in our hospitals, all of the hardworking Americans who are just working to get by, to make ends meet, to know whether they can afford another $20 or $30 at the supermarket, and then to think of Donald Trump making $6 million per day last year, a total of $2.2 billion just in the first year of his presidency,” Blumenthal said on the Senate floor. Blumenthal continued, “I don’t think there’s a single person in America who thinks that he earned that money, and how could he? He’s supposed to be devoting every waking moment to the public interest of the United States, to keeping us safe and our nation secure. The fact is it was the result of corruption. $1.4 billion of it came from crypto. And the point of this legislation is essentially to end that corruption.” Blumenthal also called out Republicans for enabling Trump’s corruption by working to advance crypto market structure legislation without meaningful anti-corruption reforms: “ Now, we will vote tomorrow on a crypto bill that is, sadly and tragically, riddled with loopholes that enables him to continue this same self-dealing and self-enrichment. And the failure to stand up to the President, I think, is going to be on our Republican colleagues, because this amendment, ethics requirements for digital assets, is a sham. It’s a charade. And if nothing else, Republicans should take a stand and say in crypto legislation that’s supposed to stop wrongdoing, lawlessness, funding of terrorist organizations, money laundering, now is the time to also impose a strong conflict of interest rule.” Blumenthal continued, “President Trump has been clear: there is no ethical line separating his role as President from his family’s businesses. It’s that simple. Corruption has become the family business.” Blumenthal underscored the need for the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act to protect consumers and our national security: “Corruption has consequences. It has costs. That bank charter is worth millions, maybe hundreds of millions to World Liberty Financial, but it will enable World Liberty Financial to exploit and take advantage of consumers that will cost them money out of those hard-earned wages that they make.” “Those Americans who are working hard to make ends meet, wondering whether they can afford another $20 or $30 at the supermarket, while Donald Trump averaged $6 million a day in 2025, ought to demand of all of us that we pass the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act . It’s the least we can do, it’s a first step. And I hope that we will also pass a crypto measure that is worthy of this body and its name,” Blumenthal concluded. A video of Blumenthal’s remarks on the Senate floor are available here . A transcript is available below. U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT): Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I’m here thinking about all the Americans who are working on manufacturing plants assembly lines, all the Americans who are teaching our kids in schools or patrol our schools as police or working in our hospitals, all of the hardworking Americans who are just working to get by, to make ends meet, to know whether they can afford another $20 or $30 at the supermarket, and then to think of Donald Trump making $6 million per day last year, a total of $2.2 billion just in the first year of his presidency? I don’t think there’s a single person in America who thinks that he earned that money, and how could he? He’s supposed to be devoting every waking moment to the public interest of the United States, to keeping us safe and our nation secure. The fact is it was the result of corruption. $1.4 billion of it came from crypto. And the point of this legislation is essentially to end that corruption. Now, we will vote tomorrow on a crypto bill that is, sadly and tragically, riddled with loopholes that enables him to continue this same self-dealing and self-enrichment. And the failure to stand up to the President, I think, is going to be on our Republican colleagues, because this amendment, ethics requirements for digital assets, is a sham. It’s a charade. And if nothing else, Republicans should take a stand and say in crypto legislation that’s supposed to stop wrongdoing, lawlessness, funding of terrorist organizations, money laundering, now is the time to also impose a strong conflict of interest rule. Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Ac t. Think of it for a moment. The ending presidential corruption in banking act. It bans the President, the Vice President, and their immediate families from owning or controlling banks. When I came to the United States Senate, if you told me you will be support something an Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act because it is necessary to stop corruption, because the President is twisting and ignoring and bending norms and precedents of the presidency, I would have said, that would never happen in the United States of America. But President Trump has been clear: there is no ethical line separating his role as President from his family’s businesses. It’s that simple. Corruption has become the family business. After President Trump issued an executive order to assert control over the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, his control over that body, it approves bank charters, surprise, Trump’s crypto company, World Liberty Financial, applied for a bank charter. And no surprise, on August 14, 2026, World Liberty Financial was granted conditional approval for a national bank charter. Corruption has consequences. It has costs. That bank charter is worth millions, maybe hundreds of millions to World Liberty Financial, but it will enable World Liberty Financial to exploit and take advantage of consumers that will cost them money out of those hard-earned wages that they make. In fact, Donald Trump made $1.4 billion, including $636 million from his meme coin, but nearly a million Americans lost billions of dollars, more than $3 billion, while he was making his huge profits. Corruption has consequences. It has costs. When the President of the United States is dealing with the Emiratis who have bought 49% share for billions of dollars in one of his enterprises, and then Emiratis receive approval for the purchase of chips that have been refused them, or defense equipment that is hugely valuable to them, it threatens our national security. And when the President’s son or his family go around the world, establishing resorts, making deals, there is always a quid pro quo, there’s always a quid to the quo. There is no free lunch. Our security is compromised; there are costs to our taxpayers. And that plane that was supposedly a gift is already costing us hundreds of millions of dollars, not to mention our being be-holden to the Qatar government. There is no free lunch. After Donald Trump Jr. Became a partner of the venture capital firm 1789 capital, its assets ballooned to $3 billion, as its portfolio companies rapidly received lucrative government contracts. Those government contracts impact taxpayers, when they are sole-sourced, when they are granted without proper review and scrutiny and oversight of what the costs will be to taxpayers. There’s no free lunch. So, this measure is not only important, but also necessary, and I have to say, the consequences of corruption are measured not only in dollars and cents, but also in our moral standing around the world. Just this morning, ProPublica reported that Donald Trump Jr.’s lavish wedding in the Caribbean was, in effect, heavily bankrolled by a Russian oligarch with close ties to Putin. His name is Umar Kremlev. Umar Kremlev is also involved in an organization that re-educates Ukrainian children who have been abducted. I’ve been to Ukraine 11 times, on a number of those trips, I’ve met with children who have been abducted and kidnapped by Vladimir Putin. It’s the reason that he’s been judged and charged as a war criminal. And one of his henchmen, apparently, is Umar Kremlev, in re-educating those children, so that they will forget their past, forget their language, forget their culture, forget their religion. This is truly criminal. And Kremlev has paid, likely, hundreds of thousands of dollars, for Donald Jr.’s lavish wedding. He is in a photograph of the wedding party. That picture haunts me. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, and the picture of a man who has, in effect, been complicit in abducting and re-educating children, separating them, and not just a few, but literally tens of thousands, as many as 35,000, maybe 50,000 or more, separating them from their families, I wouldn’t want to be caught on the same island with him, let alone having him rent the island for a wedding of a family member. Let me put it another way. Those Americans who are working hard to make ends meet, wondering whether they can afford another $20 or $30 at the supermarket, while Donald Trump averaged $6 million a day in 2025, ought to demand of all of us that we pass the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act . It’s the least we can do, it’s a first step. And I hope that we will also pass a crypto measure that is worthy of this body and its name. Thank you, Mr. President. -30-