A Manhattan jury found Donald Trump guilty of all 34 charges of falsifying business records on Thursday, an unprecedented and historic verdict that makes Trump the first former president in American history to be convicted of a felony.
Not only is Trump the first former president to be found guilty of a felony, he’s also the first major-party presidential nominee to be convicted of a crime in the midst of a campaign for the White House.
He was found guilty of all 34 counts he faced. Unanimity was required for any verdict. The verdict in the hush money trial was announced after jurors deliberated for nearly 12 hours over two days.
The former president is set to be sentenced on 11 July – days before the start of the Republican National Convention on 15 July where Trump is expected to be formally nominated for president.
Trump faces a maximum sentence of four years in prison, though others convicted of the same crime often receive shorter sentences, fines or probation. And if he defeats President Joe Biden in November, he will be the first sitting president in history to be a convicted felon.
White House responds to bombshell report claiming Donald Trump has pocketed $1.4 billion in the past 12 months
The Trump family’s empire has reportedly continued to grow
The White House has responded to a review which broke down how Donald Trump’s empire has amassed ‘at least $1.4 billion’ since his second term as President of the United States.
He’s known as a man who enjoys pushing things to the extremes, whether it be the number of executive orders he signed as soon as he was inaugurated for a second term, tossing threats out to take over other territories left, right and center or barely taking a breath before threatening to wipe Iran off the ‘face of this Earth’.
And Donald Trump has apparently made no exceptions when it comes to sucking as much money as he possibly can out of his latest presidential stint, a new report has revealed.
Trump details ‘firm instructions’ of what happens to Iran if he’s assassinated following threats
A review by the editorial board of The New York Times using analysis from multiple news organizations has revealed how Trump ‘used the office of the presidency to make at least $1.4 billion’.
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And that’s an ‘underestimate’ too, the piece noting ‘some of his profits remain hidden from public view’. But how have the Trumps monopolized so much of his presidency?
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Trump has reportedly made ‘at least $1.4 billion’ off the back of his second term in office ( Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP via Getty Images)
Overseas endeavours, golf clubs and resorts
Well, since he was re-elected, Trump’s name has been licensed overseas, raking in a reported $23 million, according to Reuters.
The Trump family have also reportedly earned a whopping $33 million from the president’s golf clubs. Not only that, but Trump has buttered up other countries to get a sweeter deal to expand his property empire.
For example, in Vietnam, the Trump empire has just amassed a $1.5 billion golf complex outside of Hanoi after backtracking on the severity of the tariffs it threatened to impose.
The Trump Organization is currently reported as chasing hotels and office towers from everywhere to Oman to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, deals of which have cashed in millions.
And that’s not ignoring Qatar’s gifting of a $400 million jet to Trump to use as Air Force One while he’s president. However, it doesn’t come with a return label, even after he’s left the White House.
And that’s only a fraction of what the Trump family have raked in from their crypto assets.
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Trump has an expansive golfing empire (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
Crypto assets
Last year, the Trump administration made a big push towards cryptocurrency, with the President aiming to make America the ‘crypto capital of the world’.
According to Reuters, a pitch was made to a Chinese businessman and his associates to buy at least $20 million in World Liberty tokens, owned by the Trump family, as ‘governance tokens’.
However, in June last year, the Trump family pot actually ended up increasing by even more than pitched, $100 million of World Liberty tokens bought by a company, Aqua1 Foundation, said to be based in the United Arab Emirates, with a spokesperson for the foundation telling Reuters that their investment in World Liberty tokens ‘was a commercial decision consistent with its focus on advancing regulated, scalable digital-asset ecosystems’.
By the end of the first half of 2026, Reuters reports Trump crypto ventures amassed a staggering $802 million – more than $463 million coming from sales of World Liberty tokens alone and then $336 from sales of a Trump meme coin, $TRUMP.
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And if that wasn’t enough yet, along came the idea of an Amazon documentary about Melania Trump.
He jumped on the crypto wave too ( Li Hongbo/VCG via Getty Images)
Amazon documentary about Melania Trump
Melania, via her agent, pitched the idea of an Amazon film about herself in which she’d not only star but also executive-produce, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The First Lady reportedly scooped up a huge paycheck of $40 million, which is said to be released on the streaming platform and in cinemas in ‘the second half of 2025’.
As well as a film, a docuseries of two or three episodes was also reported to be part of the deal.
Amazon said in a statement: “Prime Video will be sharing more details on the project as filming progresses and release plans are finalized. We are excited to share this truly unique story with our millions of customers around the world.”
However, what exactly the project entails or what it’s even called hasn’t been made clear yet.
Melania has her own Amazon documentary in the pipeline (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Tech and media companies’ settlement payouts
From X, Meta and YouTube to ABC News and Paramount, multiple companies have been forced to pay out to Trump.
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The US president previously slammed Paramount for its editing of a 2024 Kamala Harris CBS interview, claiming it was to ‘tip the scales in favour of the Democratic party’.
Paramount agreed to pay the $16 million settlement, though they added: “The settlement does not include a statement of apology or regret.”
They also said that the money would be allocated to Trump’s future presidential library or any of his charitable causes, and wouldn’t be paid ‘directly or indirectly’ to him.
In response to a request for comment, WH spokesperson Taylor Rogers told UNILAD: “The media’s continued attempts to fabricate conflicts of interest are irresponsible and reinforce the public’s distrust in what they read.
“The President is and always has been motivated solely by what is best for the American people.”Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Andrew Harnik
Topics: Donald Trump, Money, Politics, US News, Melania Trump
Poppy Bilderbeck
Greenland’s leader sends blunt message to Trump ahead of White House talks
Greenland’s prime minister Jens-Frederick Nielsen revealed which country it would ‘choose’ to side with
Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, has hit back at Donald Trump’s plans to ‘own’ the territory.
Last year, Trump’s first speech in a joint session of Congress saw him deliver a bit of a conflicting ‘message’ to the ‘incredible people of Greenland‘.
Despite the US ‘strongly support[ing]’ the territory’s ‘right to determine’ its ‘own future,’ the 47th President of the US resolved ‘one way or the other,’ the US was ‘going to get’ Greenland.
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Earlier this month, Trump doubled down on his supposed invitation to Greenland, and the island has since responded to his generous offer.
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He previously explained the US ‘need[s]’ Greenland ‘for national security and even international security’.
On Friday (January 9), while aboard Air Force One, Trump added: “If we don’t do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we’re not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor.”
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The White House has suggested buying Greenland – with Trump describing it as ‘essentially a real estate deal,’ in 2019 – but the US also hasn’t ruled out using force to annex it.
And Greenland’s prime minister, Nielsen, reflected on the conundrum during a joint news conference with Denmark’s prime minister.
Warning Greenland is ‘facing a geopolitical crisis,’ Nielsen said: “If we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark.”
Making ‘one thing […] clear to everyone,’ Nielsen emphasized: “Greenland does not want to be owned by the United States. Greenland does not want to be governed by the United States. Greenland does not want to be part of the United States.”
It didn’t take long for Trump to hit back at Nielsen, shockingly arguing he’d have to ‘disagree’.
Sorry Trump but Greenland isn’t exactly keen on joining the US (Liselotte Sabroe / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP via Getty Images)
Yesterday (January 14), Trump reflected on Nielsen’s comments, stating, as quoted by the BBC: “That’s their problem, I disagree with him… That’s going to be a big problem for him.”
However, it could also spell a big problem for Trump should the US seize Greenland by force, with members of NATO having previously warned against such a move.
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Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark slammed the ‘completely unacceptable pressure from [its] closet ally’.
Trump later responded in classic threatening fashion: “If it affects NATO, then it affects NATO. But, you know, they need us much more than we need them, I will tell you that right now.”
“Greenland should make the deal because Greenland does not want to see Russia or China take over,” he added. “Greenland, basically their defense is two dogsleds.”
