Trump agreed to new ethics rules to get a crypto bill across the line.
But that might not be enough
[September 14, 2026]
By SEUNG MIN KIM
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump had been hearing the message
loud and clear for weeks about the sweeping cryptocurrency bill being
written in the Senate: to get it across the line, he would have to agree
to ethics provisions that apply to him, too.
First, Trump agreed to a measure that would bar him and his wife from
issuing the types of meme coins that they swiftly launched as he
prepared to return to the White House for a second time. And then
another concession came late Sunday, when Republicans said Trump
consented to a tougher ethics proposal that several key senators had
demanded.
Now, a pivotal Senate vote on the cryptocurrency bill on Tuesday could
mark a watershed moment for the $2.3 trillion market — but it hinges
mainly on whether those sign-offs from Trump go far enough. That vote
could determine whether Washington cements crypto legitimacy into law or
whether a frustrated, deep-pocketed industry could unleash even more
campaign cash in the midterm elections.
“A vote against the Clarity Act isn’t a principled stand against
President Trump," Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., the lead author of the
crypto bill, told The Associated Press. "It’s a vote against
implementing tough restrictions on politicians for crypto investments.”
Crypto bill's fate hangs on Trump-focused ethics fight
The president has amassed significant amounts of crypto wealth while in
office, complicating dynamics for senators drafting legislation to try
to bring the fledgling digital assets industry into the mainstream.
With that in mind, Lummis and Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, went to the
White House for a meeting in mid-July and told Trump that he would have
to abide by conflict-of-interest restrictions to get key Democrats on
board with the bill.
The president agreed — with surprisingly little pushback, according to
two people with knowledge of the Oval Office discussion, who spoke on
condition of anonymity to describe the private talks.
The language presented in that meeting by Lummis, a longtime crypto
backer steeped in the intricacies of digital asset policy, and Moreno, a
blockchain entrepreneur and luxury car dealer known for his persuasive
sales pitch, would bar all federally elected officials and their
spouses, as well as federal judges, from issuing digital assets. That
would mean Trump would no longer be able to sponsor the type of meme
coin he launched on the cusp of his second inauguration last January,
nor would his wife, first lady Melania Trump, who also has a token.
But Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., then
presented an additional proposal to the White House that went further.
It would require the president to put his crypto holdings in a blind
trust, and divest when those holdings reach a certain value, according
to two other people with direct knowledge of the language. They spoke on
condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations.
It would also allow state attorneys general to step in and enforce the
law in addition to the Justice Department — a critical provision for
Democrats who say they would not be able to trust a Trump-appointed
attorney general to enforce any conflict-of-interest provision against
the president.
That proposal could, in theory, force Trump to divest from ventures such
as World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency venture that his sons
launched in 2024. Trump reported more than $500 million in revenue from
World Liberty Financial sales of crypto products, including “governance
tokens,” in his annual disclosure report filed with the Office of
Government Ethics — a significant share of the more than $1.4 billion
that the president reported from crypto businesses last year.
White House warms to Democrats' ethics idea after initial skepticism
In private, White House officials had raised concerns about giving state
attorneys general the power to enforce the law, arguing that Democratic
state lawyers could use it as a political weapon against the president
and other GOP officials — and that it could be used by Republican
attorneys general against elected Democrats, according to the two people
familiar with the July Oval Office discussion.
Still, Trump agreed to language that includes a “meaningful role” for
state attorneys general to play in enforcing the crypto measure should
it become law, according to a Sunday night statement from Lummis and
Sens. John Boozman, R-Ark., and Tim Scott, R-S.C., the bill's main
authors.
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Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump
speaks at the Bitcoin Conference, July 27, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn.
(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)
A senior GOP aide, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity,
said the president had agreed to “about 80%” of the proposal from
Tillis and Gallego, pointing mainly to the state attorneys general
provision. An updated version of the bill released Sunday also
includes a requirement to either divest or place in a blind trust
any “significant” financial interest in an entity that issues
cryptocurrencies.
Gallego and Tillis, the senators who had pushed for additional
measures, did not immediately comment on the development late
Sunday.
Trump also agreed to language that would allow state attorneys
general to sue a crypto exchange if they list a digital asset that
would be barred in the overall bill, according to the aide. Trump
had been persuaded in part after a slew of conversations about the
importance of passing the crypto measure, including with industry
officials, the aide said.
For Democrats, an enforcement mechanism involving state attorneys
general had been a red line.
“We need the state attorneys general to also have the power to
prosecute if the Department of Justice refuses to,” said Maryland
Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, among the Democrats seen as vital swing
votes on Tuesday. “I have been very clear about the fact that I will
not vote for any legislation that does not cover ethics," she said.
Presidents aren't always covered by federal ethics laws
Presidents have often been exempt from federal conflict-of-interest
laws, though some other modern presidents voluntarily put assets in
blind trusts. While Cabinet officials subject to the laws can recuse
themselves or divest holdings to address specific issues under their
jurisdiction, it was seen as much more difficult for presidents who
oversee the entire government to do the same.
A measure enacted into law last year regulating stablecoins, a type
of cryptocurrency, barred members of Congress and their families
from profiting off them, but it did not extend to Trump or his
family.
“It is true that conflict-of-interest provisions do not commonly
apply to the president because of their whole-of-government
responsibilities,” said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the government
watchdog group Public Citizen. “That said, we have seen such
unprecedented corruption and conflict of interest from this
administration and Trump in particular, that we need a different
rubric.”
The White House has maintained that the president stays out of
family business decisions administered by his sons.
Trump is a relatively recent convert to crypto
In his first term, the president said that he was “not a fan” of
cryptocurrency, saying it was “highly volatile and based on thin
air.”
But Trump has since become a convert, persuaded by his sons’
interest in the business — and by its appeal to Black voters and
younger voters, who could play a crucial role in close campaigns.
Crypto has served as more than just a political boon for Trump. The
$1.2 billion in Trump’s crypto revenues also included more than $600
million from sales of souvenir-type “meme” coins stamped with his
face through the crypto business CIC Digital LLC.
Last May, the president hosted top investors in his $TRUMP meme coin
for a dinner at his northern Virginia golf club, an example of how
Trump was mixing his presidential duties with his business ventures
despite the White House saying Trump attended the event “in his
personal time.”
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Associated Press writer Steven Sloan in Mountain Lake Park, Md.,
contributed to this report.
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