A shock revelation from a new book has claimed Donald Trump could have abandoned his 2024 presidential bid – for an astronomical price.

Read on for the full surprising story, and discover who planned to bankroll the unusual effort to stop Trump from running.

All dollar amounts in US dollars.

In an interview with 60 Minutes earlier this week, author and former Wall Street slinger Michael Lewis (pictured) revealed that disgraced crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was prepared to pay a fortune to stop Donald Trump returning to the White House. 

Promoting his new book about Bankman-Fried – the onetime billionaire CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX who's now facing seven counts of fraud – Lewis shared details about the former 'King of Crypto's' political agenda. Bankman-Fried was well-known for his heavy political spending, which over the years comprised millions of dollars to both Democrats and Republicans.

No stranger to spending large sums of money, Bankman-Fried (pictured) reportedly asked Trump's team just how much it would take to stop him running for president.

"Sam's thinking, 'We could pay Donald Trump not to run for president. Like, how much would it take?'" Michael Lewis said.

"So he did get an answer. He was floated – there was a number that was kicking around. And the number that was kicking around when I was talking to Sam about this was $5 billion. Sam was not sure that number came directly from Trump."

Lewis went on: "The question Sam had was not just, 'Is $5 billion enough to pay Trump not to run,' but 'Was it legal?'" 

Bankman-Fried never finished negotiating with the former POTUS. Donald Trump announced his presidential bid shortly afterwards, while FTX collapsed and Bankman-Fried was extradited to the US to face fraud and conspiracy charges. He was sent to jail in August this year after having his bail revoked, and his trial began in New York on Tuesday, one day after Donald Trump's civil fraud trial kicked off in the same city. 

Donald Trump may have prioritized his political campaign over a major payday, but he's had plenty of other money-makers over the years. So just how rich is he today? Let's take a look.

Amid the ongoing fraud lawsuit, the true value of Donald Trump's brand and assets has been under the microscope like never before. According to Forbes, Trump's net worth is $2.6 billion, down from a peak of $4.5 billion in 2016 and $3.2 billion last year. The ex-POTUS is now $300 million shy of the cutoff point for the Forbes 400, a list he's failed to make for the first time in two decades and a fact he's likely to resent. Former Forbes 400 reporter Johnathan Greenberg has claimed a Trump 'aide' named John Barron – a well-known alter ego of Trump himself – rang him in 1984 to help him "understand just how loaded Trump really was."

But based on analysis of Trump's recently released 2020 tax returns, forensic accountants Mark Gottlieb and Bruce Dubinsky believe the $2.6 billion figure isn't representative of the funds that Trump actually has at his disposal. The majority of Trump's reported net worth is likely made up of assets and interest payments he can't easily access, which Gottlieb describes as "phantom income."

"As phantom income, he can't touch it, feel it, smell it, or use it," Gottlieb told The Daily Beast.

The accountants have estimated that Trump's cash assets are probably between $30 million and $100 million. In 2020, according to Gottlieb: "The self-proclaimed billionaire only earned an actual income of around a million dollars. But for his wages as president and his dividends from those inaccessible partnerships, Trump's actual income that year was more like $500,000 or $600,000. Not a lot of money for a billionaire." 

Let's explore what we DO know about how Donald Trump boosts his fortune...

The former president continues to profit from the swaths of property he owns across the world, including 125,000 square feet of commercial real estate near Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. During his presidency, Donald Trump raked in an impressive $781 million from his commercial real estate portfolio, and during the COVID-19 pandemic Trump's commercial real estate investments have helped keep his finances afloat.

Trump benefited from long-term commercial tenants locked into long leases. In fact, in two office building locations – 555 California Street (Trump has a 30% share) and New York City’s 1290 Avenue of the Americas – rent in 2020 actually increased, quite a feat considering most businesses pivoted to working from home models and many offices were empty.

However, Trump may be concerned about the future of his commercial real estate interests. These assets make up three-quarters of his fortune but had an estimated $1.3 billion in debt tied up in them as of October 2021, according to Forbes.

Trump is pictured here in 1980 with a model of what is arguably the most famous building his organization has built: Trump Tower. While the entire building is multi-use, floors 66 to 68 consist of Trump’s personal triplex penthouse apartment. The apartment alone is worth an estimated $64 million – though according to Letitia James, the New York Attorney General spearheading the ongoing fraud lawsuit against Trump, the value of the whole building has been vastly misrepresented in the past.

In 2018, for example, James' filings claim Trump Tower was overvalued by almost $175 million, and in 2019 it was overvalued by almost $323 million.

Trump also boasts a bulging residential real estate portfolio, with more than 500 units across America, which had an estimated value of $235 million at the beginning of 2020 but dropped to $148 million due to the impact of COVID-19. More recent figures from Investopedia suggest his global residential real estate could now be worth around $340 million. 

Trump also leases residences he’s not occupying, which is quite the money-maker. During 2017, the former president rented out his estate Chateau des Palmiers on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin for an eye-watering rate of up to $20,000 per night. 

Trump's empire of hotels has also boosted his bank balance before, during, and after his time in the White House. Letitia James claims Trump submitted fraudulent financial statements to obtain loans for his hotels in Washington and Chicago.

In November 2022, it was revealed that several governments spent a fortune staying at one of his hotels in the first two years of his presidency. According to accounting records from the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC – which were obtained by a House Oversight Committee from Trump's former accounting firm Mazars – the ex-President made over $750,000 from six foreign governments in 2017 and 2018.

This figure includes around $74,000 from the UAE, more than $90,000 from Saudi Arabia, $250,000 from Malaysia, and $280,000 from Qatar. (Trump is pictured here with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2018.) 

Trump also profited from hosting high-profile officials from China and Turkey. And that's not all: records have also shown that "lobbyists and other businesses with connections to foreign governments spent tens of thousands more at Trump’s Washington property," according to CNN.

Trump ultimately sold the hotel (pictured) for a reported $375 million to investment fund CGI Merchant Group, which removed his name from it and reopened the hotel as the Waldorf Astoria Washington DC in July 2022. But it's since been back at the center of an investigation into whether Trump's money-making impacted his presidential duties...

According to the US Constitution's Emoluments Clause, presidents are forbidden from profiting from any "King, Prince, or foreign State" without congressional consent. Democrats sitting on the House Oversight Committee have been trying to find out whether any of the foreign governments mentioned in the records were using payments to influence US foreign policy while Trump was in the White House.

There's no direct evidence that this is the case, and the Trumps have vehemently denied the allegations. However, CNN reports that "many of the hotel stays coincided with significant foreign policy events, including meetings between Trump and other foreign leaders and US efforts to resolve the 2017 Middle Eastern blockade of Qatar." During these visits, senior officials from Gulf countries booked some of the hotel's most expensive rooms while actively seeking political support from the US. 

It's not just foreign governments that have paid to stay at Trump's hotels. According to another investigation, he's also profited from some very surprising guests. An earlier report by a House Oversight Committee found that, over the four years of Trump's presidency, he charged the Secret Service "excessive nightly rates on dozens of trips" as he traveled between his properties, "fleecing taxpayers." 

He reportedly spent 428 days at properties including Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida and his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey (pictured) between 2017 and 2021. Federal employees were forced to spend as much as $1,185 per night to stay at Trump's properties, despite claims from his companies that Secret Service officers would be able to stay "for free" or "at cost" when traveling with the former POTUS to protect him.

The committee has claimed these fees were charged to support Trump's "struggling businesses." It's true that Trump's hotels didn't fare quite so well during the COVID-19 pandemic due to reduced travel – and the Washington DC hotel (pictured) was causing problems even before that.

Despite the influx of funds from foreign governments, revenues sat at around $52 million a year between 2017 and 2019, and there wasn't really enough profit to cover the interest on the $170 million loan on the hotel from Deutsche Bank. When the pandemic hit, the hotel saw revenues fall below $20 million. 

The property tycoon may have moved out of America’s most famous house, but he has plenty of other million-dollar residences to choose from, including the previously mentioned Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, which Trump allegedly bought in 1985 for $10 million.

The value of the 58-bedroom property has since skyrocketed to $350 million, according to the most recent estimates by Forbes. In fact, it's one business interest that wasn't too greatly impacted by Trump's presidency, bringing in $22.9 million in 2020, up from $22.3 million in 2015.

The estate, the name of which means "sea-to-lake" in Spanish, hit troubled waters in 2022 when the FBI raided it for classified documents it suspected Trump had taken from the White House. But Trump is still managing to monetize his home; his 2024 campaign reportedly paid $67,865 for catering and room rental at Mar-a-Lago during his presidential announcement last November. 

The impressive residence hit headlines again amid reports that Trump transferred its ownership to his oldest son, Donald Jr, shortly before his most recent arrest.

Property listing website Zillow claimed that Mar-a-Lago was sold for $422 million on August 4 this year, though Eric Trump has since confirmed "this rumor is asinine". The sale figure is interesting, however, in the context of James' claims that Trump valued the property at between $347 million and $739 million in 2014, numbers that allegedly ignore limitations on the building's potential for development. James believes the true valuation should have been closer to $18 million to $27.6 million, based on figures from Palm Beach County, though Trump's lawyers have argued the value of the building has increased as a result of its association with the former POTUS.

In total, James' prosecution believes Trump has made around $100 million in financial assets by misrepresenting the value of his property empire over the years.

Other properties belonging to Donald Trump include Seven Springs in New York, and his aforementioned Caribbean home in Saint Martin (pictured), reportedly worth $13 million. Trump is also believed to own two homes in Sterling, Virginia with a combined value of $1.5 million, along with two other properties in Palm Beach in addition to Mar-a-Lago. 

While Trump has lost his New York links (more on that later), he still owns a global portfolio of golf courses. According to Sportico, the Federal Election Commission filings that Trump submitted earlier this year revealed he made as much as $555 million from his golf courses between January 2022 and April 2023. That's almost half his total reported income during that period, which he claims was $1.2 billion.

This represents a significant increase. In the calendar years of 2018 and 2020, Trump earned $224 million and $237 million respectively, meaning his golf-related income has roughly doubled in just a few years.

Trump's most lucrative golf course is the Trump National Doral Golf Resort in Miami (pictured), which brought in $159.3 million. This was followed by Trump's Turnberry estate in Ayrshire, Scotland, which reported $52 million in revenue.

It's worth noting these figures include both golf and hotel revenue, so it's unclear what percentage was solely derived from the resort's golf-related interests. Accommodation can prove seriously lucrative; new data has even revealed that the Turnberry estate received $22,917 (£18.07k) from the Secret Service earlier this year, with the money covering the cost of their accommodation during Trump's Scottish visit in May. Documentation has shown the Service had to get permission from another government agency to pay more than the "allowable" rate. 

Meanwhile, Trump's Bedminster golf club in New Jersey lists the highest takings of any course where the money can be exclusively attributed to the sport. It brought in $46.2 million between January 2022 and April 2023 – much more than the $17.7 million it reportedly made in 2020.

The newly reported numbers might come as a surprise; previous filings have suggested Trump's Scottish golf courses, including the Turnberry estate, have been bleeding money.

Trump has two golf courses in Scotland. As well as Turnberry, which he bought in 2014, he also owns the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire (pictured), which opened in 2012. Although the turnover for both courses increased significantly from 2020 to 2021, mainly due to loosening COVID-19 restrictions, the clubs made a combined loss of over $4.9 million in the last financial year, according to accounts filed with the UK's Companies House.

Bought with the intention of making "the world's best golf course," the 1,400-acre Trump International Golf Links at the Menie Estate reported a turnover of $2.45 million and gross profits of over $245,000. This turnover may be almost double the course's turnover from the previous year, but the course still reported a pre-tax loss of $854,400. It was apparently the 10th year running that the links, which reportedly employed 53 people who were paid a total of $1.9 million in 2021, have made a loss.

Meanwhile, Turnberry (pictured) also saw its turnover almost double, hitting a much higher $16 million in 2021. However, this figure still wasn't enough to save the course from making a loss of $4.5 million. Like the Trump International Golf Links, it was previously reported that Turnberry hadn't made a profit in around 10 years. It employed 333 people who were paid a total of $9 million in 2021.

One possible explanation for the sudden upswing could be Trump's relationship with the Saudi-owned LIV Golf tour, which earlier this year announced a partnership with the PGA Tour and DP World Golf Tour to create "a new commercial entity." 

The news shocked many, including some PGA players who claim they weren't notified of the deal before finding out via social media. It's particularly surprising as there's long been bad blood between the tours, with various lawsuits filed from both sides and several LIV players suspended from the PGA and DP World Tours. PGA Tours commissioner Jay Monahan claimed a truce with LIV was "off the table." 

Although some people have expressed qualms over this integration of LIV Golf, which iSaudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund bankrolls, Trump already enjoys a strong relationship with the tour. His courses have hosted various LIV events in the past and will host three over the 2023 season, the most recent of which was held at his Washington DC course in May (pictured). According to the Federal Election Commission disclosure, this course made an income of $38.1 million from January 2022 to April 2023.

The former POTUS's close ties with LIV mean the new partnership could be good news for him. PGA Tours is far better established than LIV Golf, with a monopoly on major TV partners. Not only will the "new commercial entity" bring legitimacy to a tour some golfers have been suspicious of, but – by association – it could also make Trump's golf courses a contender for major tournaments at a time when many bodies have turned their backs on his European resorts...

News of the partnership broke just days after it was reported that Donald Trump's dream of hosting the Open at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland was dead. A source at the R&A, the body that organizes the Open, told the UK's Telegraph Sport that there's no chance Turnberry will be selected to stage any of its championships.

Back in January 2021 in the wake of the Capitol riots, chief executive Martin Slumbers confirmed the R&A "had no plans to stage any of our championships at Turnberry and will not do so in the foreseeable future." Now the source has said "our position remains unchanged... We have no plans to stage any of our championships there in the foreseeable future and will not return until we are convinced that the focus will be on the championship, the players and the course itself."

Trump is pictured here during a visit to his Turnberry resort earlier this year.

Donald Trump's son Eric, who along with his older brother Donald Jr took over the directorship of Trump's golf businesses when his father entered the White House, told the UK's Telegraph newspaper that his family is still "deeply committed to the Open Championship whenever the call is received. My family is deeply committed to Scotland and has one singular focus – preserving Turnberry as the best golf course anywhere in the world."

But it seems unlikely the call will ever come. As another R&A insider put it: "The way it looks now, [Trump] would have to sell up before anything changes." This is partly due to factors such as security concerns: protestors could target the championship if the Trump-owned course were selected to host.

The refusal from the R&A is no doubt a bitter pill to swallow considering the enormous sums of money Trump has poured into Turnberry. According to Eric, the Trumps "have invested nearly $200 million in the property, achieved the most prestigious accolades in the world of golf and have a course which is universally considered to be the best in the Open Championship rota." Trump himself also claimed to have spent "a tremendous amount of money" redesigning the course with the help of Peter Dawson, the former chief executive of the R&A.

Trump acquired his first golf course, the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, back in 1999. Trump Golf has since expanded to include 16 locations in the US, Scotland, Ireland and Dubai, with two sites in Indonesia and another Dubai course coming soon. During his time in office, the then-president raked in an impressive $943 million in revenue from his golf courses and members’ clubs, according to Forbes.

As with the rest of his real estate, Trump’s golf and club resorts saw revenues drop during the pandemic due to stay-at-home orders, falling 27% in 2020 to an estimated $190 million. Trump reportedly has $18 million in debts from his golf interests, and $330 million from his resorts and hotels.

However, more recent figures suggest his American golf courses have bounced back more successfully than his Scottish clubs. According to personal financial documents that Trump filed earlier this year, the Trump National Golf Club in Washington DC has made revenue of over $5 million since Trump left office, although it's worth noting this is a ballpark figure – and vastly different to the numbers reported in the more recent Federal Election Commission disclosure.

The apparent discrepancy over Trump's golfing income over the years has been picked up by Letitia James. In her $250 million fraud lawsuit, James alleged the 45th has repeatedly overstated the value of his golf portfolio to secure favorable loans from banks. The suit specifically claims he valued the Turnberry estate at over $123 million from 2017 to 2021, despite the fact it was reportedly loss-making for each of those years.

James has since expanded on her claims, alleging that Trump added 15-30% 'brand premium' to the value of some of his golf courses in previous financial documents.

In an unrelated investigation, Donald Trump's name is set to be removed from the Trump Golf Links course (pictured) in New York following the conclusion of a two-and-a-half-year legal battle.

Trump signed a 20-year lease with New York City for the Ferry Point site in 2014. However, in the wake of the January 6 riot at the US Capitol, former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio kickstarted efforts to terminate his lease.

Now, the Trump Organization has struck a deal with Bally's Corporation, and the casino operator is taking over the lease on the site.

Bally's will continue to run the Ferry Point site as a golf course, although it will operate under a different name.

In a statement, The New York City Parks Department said: "We are supportive of the transfer of the Ferry Point Golf Course to Bally’s, and we are confident they will deliver a high-quality golfing experience to New Yorkers."

Meanwhile, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander added: "I am delighted that Trump's name will no longer deface city parkland."

While the terms of Trump's deal with Bally's remain unclear, sources claim it's well into the millions.

According to ABC News, the deal echoes one the Trump Organization struck in the past. In that instance, the investment firm CGI Merchant Group agreed to buy Trump out of his lease with the federal government to operate the Old Post Office building as the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC. The Trump name was removed, and the firm reached a deal with Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. to convert the property to a Waldorf Astoria managed by Hilton.

A whole host of products and companies fall under the Trump umbrella, and the value of the Trump brand – like his net worth – has been hotly disputed over the years. According to newly unsealed details about Trump's April deposition in the Letitia James fraud lawsuit, Trump himself has claimed his personal brand is worth "billions and billions" and he reiterated these claims outside the courtroom yesterday. But is it? 

After the Capitol riot in January 2021, Trump Plaza in Florida’s West Palm Beach voted to drop Trump’s name, and New York City has attempted to stop his contracts for ice rinks, a carousel, and a golf course. More trouble could be ahead; If Trump and his eponymous Organization are found guilty of fraud in the ongoing suit, the Trumps will be permanently banned from operating businesses in New York, while Donald and the Trump Organization will be banned from buying commercial real estate in the state for five years. 

Donald Trump claimed that his name was worth $3 billion in 2011, while Forbes reported that a more modest $200 million was a better estimate. More recently, Forbes has said it's probably worth just $60 million. 

Another recent money-maker is the Trump Card, which supporters can get for a donation of $45. Cardholders are considered "THE MOST important group of supporters" apparently. Some commentators have pointed out similarities between the eagle on the card and the eagle used as a symbol by Nazi Germany.

Donald Trump’s interest in gold isn’t purely esthetic – it's also been reported that he owns thousands of dollars’ worth of the precious metal in a financial capacity.

In 2015, the then-Republican candidate nominee submitted financial statements to the Federal Election Commission, which listed gold assets worth between $100,001 and $200,000. Trump also accepted gold bullion in place of a lease deposit from a tenant of his 40 Wall Street building in a highly publicized event in 2011.

With the subject 'NEW ITEM: MUGSHOT,' Trump's official store sent an email to supporters on the day of his arraignment. The email advertised a T-shirt that features a heavily doctored image of Trump on the front, claiming recipients could get the T-shirt "for free" if they donated $47 to his 2024 re-election campaign.

There was much talk before Trump's arrest about whether or not he would have his mugshot taken. His lawyer Joe Tacopina has confirmed a photo was never taken as part of his first arraignment in the hush money case, while his lawyer Alina Habba said to CNN: "Mugshots are for people so that you recognize who they are. He is the most recognized face in the world, let alone the country right now, so there's no need for that. There's no need for the theatrics."

Reports from former aides have revealed that Trump struggled to readjust to life after the White House, becoming frustrated at his lack of press coverage and the loss of Air Force One. But having avoided two possible impeachments during his tenure, he's still entitled to all of post-presidency perks, which include a $199,000 annual pension, as well as travel expense allowances, staff, and personal security for life. 

Some of Trump's money has come from overseas too. According to financial records that have been seized by the New York attorney general's office, the Trump Organization borrowed $19.8 million from the South Korean conglomerate L/P Daewoo prior to his presidency. The two businesses reportedly partnered on a project near the United Nations headquarters in New York (pictured), with the debt arising because Trump agreed to split some of his licensing fees with the company. 

The loan wasn't disclosed on the financial documents that Trump handed over to the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) while running for president in 2016, so details have only recently come to light as part of the investigation into the Trump Organization's tax dealings, according to Forbes. A New York attorney general finally obtained the documents in December 2022.

Trump's relationship with Daewoo goes back decades. Between 1997 and 2007, the Trump Organization and South Korean conglomerate reportedly partnered on a number of construction projects, with Daewoo using the Trump name on six properties built in South Korea – and at some point, Daewoo started lending Trump money. The documents show that the company lent Trump $25 million in connection with projects in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Brazil, Florida, Arizona, Canada, and Chicago.

Like the $19.8 million debt that was still hanging over Trump as he prepared to take office, these loans weren't disclosed on any of the records that he willingly handed over to the OGE. 

The law states that federal officials don't need to disclose loans to their companies unless they're personally liable for them, and it's not clear whether Trump was personally responsible for the money he borrowed from L/P Daewoo. But the circumstances surrounding the loan have aroused suspicion among some, with reporters pointing out that L/P Daewoo has ties to North Korea.

Back in the 1990s, the conglomerate was one of the only South Korean businesses permitted to operate in the Hermit Kingdom – and during his presidency, Trump repeatedly came under fire for his close relationship with Kim Jong-un. More recently, it's been suggested that the documents the former POTUS took from the White House to Mar-a-Lago included the "beautiful letters" from the North Korean leader, some of which were published in Trump's latest book (more on that later).

Adding to the mystery surrounding the loan, Allen Weisselberg (pictured) – the former CFO of the Trump Organization who was jailed for tax fraud on 10 January – told The New York Times in 2016 that Trump had publicly disclosed all the debts connected to companies in which he held a 100% stake. The recently obtained documents show this wasn't the case, though the former president was quick to settle the outstanding loan after taking office.

Between 2011 and 2016, Trump didn't pay back a cent of the $19.8 million. By June 30, 2017, however, he'd paid back all but $4.3 million. The documents later show that "Daewoo was bought out of its position on July 5, 2017."

Because it's not clear whether Trump was personally liable for the loan, it's unlikely he'll face any legal action for refusing to comply with the OGE just yet. Representatives from the OGE have added that the department doesn't have the means to investigate the financial dealings of incoming presidents, so most loans are reported according to an honor system. Walter Shaub, who ran the government agency when Trump entered the White House, said: "If someone does not disclose a loan, OGE has no way to know." 

Another revelation from Trump's financial documents is that he's made "more than" $5 million in public speaking fees since leaving office. This has no doubt included the profits from his 'American Freedom Tour,' a post-White House business venture inspired by "a nation of disappointed voters and a love for President Donald J. Trump," according to tour spokesman Larry Ward. The tour sold a range of tickets, with VIP spots on sale for $800 and a "patriot" experience for $4,000.

His updated disclosures have also revealed he was paid $2 million for speaking at Universal Peace Federation World Summits in Bedminster, New Jersey and Palm Beach, Florida. Meanwhile, Melania Trump has reportedly made $1.2 million in speaking fees since her husband left the White House.

In late 2021, Trump signed his first big book deal since leaving the White House. Published by Winning Team Publishing, Our Journey Together is a coffee table book featuring "never before seen photos" from Trump's presidency, each accompanied by a caption written by Trump himself.

The initial print run of 200,000 copies reportedly sold out in a matter of weeks, with some signed versions selling for up to $1,749 online. The book went on to gross over $20 million in the first two months of sales alone.

Winning Team Publishing is a small publishing house co-founded by Trump's son Donald Jr. and former campaign staffer Sergio Gor. According to financial disclosures Trump filed last week, Our Journey Together – one of two books by the former president sold by Winning Team Publishing – has netted him an incredible $5.75 million in royalties over the last 18 months.

But despite claiming to show "never before seen photos," critics have been quick to point out that the official White House photographer took the photos, and most were already in the public domain.

While it's true Trump added his own captions, some people have questioned how he's made so much money from the venture, and it's unknown whether the photographer also earned a share of the royalties.

A spokesperson from Winning Team Publishing has reportedly claimed the book has sold more than 500,000 copies. While industry data company NPD BookScan has tracked 10,200 sales of the book through retailers up until January this year, it's unable to track the number of sales that occurred directly through Winning Team's website.

While we might be unable to verify the number of copies sold, we do know that Trump's political action committees paid $231,000 to the publishing house in 2022. It's thought this was so the committee could purchase copies of Our Journey Together to offer in exchange for donations of $75 or more.

The financial disclosures also reveal that Winning Team Publishing has paid Trump's wife Melania $250,000 in licensing fees, a payment the spokesperson confirmed was for promoting the title.

Letters To Trump, the second Trump book title published by Winning Team Publishing, was released in April. 

According to the company, this latest work "captures the incredible, and oftentimes private correspondence, between President Donald J. Trump and some of the biggest names in history throughout the past 40 years!"

The names certainly are big, with correspondents including Presidents Barack Obama, George W Bush, and Richard Nixon, celebrities such as Michael Jackson and Jay Leno, world leaders including Vladimir Putin and David Cameron, and other high-profile figures such as Hillary Clinton and even the late Queen Elizabeth II. (Trump is pictured here during a visit to London in 2019.)

And Elizabeth II isn't the only member of the British royal family to feature in Letters To Trump. King Charles III, then Prince Charles, also penned a letter to the businessman in 1995, thanking him for the offer of honorary membership to his Florida home and resort Mar-a-Lago. Charles is said to have wished Trump well as he opened his new club and suggested that he visit his London-based Institute of Architecture.

The letter was apparently published "without permission" from Buckingham Palace.

Arguably the most jaw-dropping items in Trump's collection could be his letters from North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. (The two men are pictured here at a meeting in the Korean Demilitarized Zone back in June 2019.)

Speaking affectionately about the ruthless despot at a Virginia rally back in 2018, Trump revealed that he and Kim were "really being tough … and then we fell in love, OK? No, really – he wrote me beautiful letters, and they’re great letters." 

The Kim letters have been troublesome for Trump. They were among the classified documents that the ousted president took from the White House following his supporters’ attack on the Capitol on 6 January 2021. The letters were later found stashed in Mar-a-Lago.

Copies of the book could be pre-ordered ahead of the release date and cost a whopping $99 – or $399 for a signed edition. And if the apparent success of Our Journey Together is anything to go by, Letters To Trump could be seriously lucrative.

In April, in his first post since he was suspended from Instagram in the wake of the Capitol riots, Donald Trump unveiled his second collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which he describes as digital trading cards. In a promotional video, he says: "Hello again, this is your favorite president Donald Trump with some news you are going to really love.

"A few months ago, we almost broke the internet when I announced my Trump digital trading cards. These beautiful Trump cards made headlines all over the world because of the speed at which they sold. Original cards sold out so fast, everyone is asking me to do another series. Well, I've got some fantastic news for you. My Trump digital trading cards are back with a bang. Series 2, the new collection, features incredible artwork of me as a rockstar and also as a monster trucker."

Trump went on to say that "people love to collect baseball cards, but why settle for that when you can collect the greatest trading card in history?"

He also confirmed the cards in his second collection were the same price as those in the first collection – $99 per card, or the equivalent in cryptocurrency. 

Returning to his own social media platform Truth Social a few hours later, Trump announced that his digital trading cards had "SOLD OUT, in RECORD TIME, approximately $4.6 Million. A great honor, and I hope everyone is Happy, Healthy, and Wealthy. CONGRATULATIONS!" 

The cards may have made $4.6 million in total, but it's unclear how much of this will end up in Trump's pocket. But we do know roughly how much money he made from his first collection of NFTs, thanks to his personal financial disclosures: anything between $100,000 and $1 million. 

After teasing a "major announcement" on Truth Social, Trump officially unveiled his inaugural collection of NFTs on 15 December 2022. Built on the Polygon blockchain, the 45,000 digital trading cards featured "incredible, hand-drawn art, inspired by President Trump’s extraordinary life & career." The images showed Trump in various guises, from posing in front of Trump Tower with lasers coming out of his eyes to standing on the moon in a cowboy hat.

In a promotional video for the collection, during which he claimed to be "better than Lincoln" and "better than Washington," Trump revealed that each digital trading card cost $99 (or the equivalent in cryptocurrency) and that buyers were automatically entered into a sweepstake to win "amazing prizes such as dinner with [Trump]." The former POTUS added: "I don't know if that's an amazing prize, but it's what we have." 

The second time around, people who bought 47 cards from series two – a reference, no doubt, to his aspiration to become the 47th president – were entered into a prize draw to win a private dinner at Mar-a-Lago. Buying 47 cards would set someone back $4,653.

Trump's first collection sold out in around 12 hours, according to CNET, meaning it netted $4.45 million in total. And the value of the cards kept going up. By 19 December 2022, data from OpenSea.com showed the NFTs had a floor value of around 0.299 Ethereum (ETH), a type of cryptocurrency. That worked out to around $354, meaning the trading cards more than tripled in value since they were initially listed for $99. They spiked in price again following Trump's indictment, with one even approaching $1,700. By the time he put his second collection up for sale, the least expensive Trump cards on OpenSea.com were listed for around $200.

When Trump's wife Melania launched her own collections of NFTs, she announced that a portion of the proceeds would be donated to children aging out of the foster care system. No such announcements have been made about her husband's collections. He hasn't revealed whether he's spent the money he's made, leaving many people wondering whether he'll use the funds to bolster his 2024 presidential campaign.

The NFTs were produced by a company called NFT INT, which has stated that the money raised through the sale of the cards won't fund Trump's campaign. Like many Trump-branded products in the past, these NFTs haven't been made by Trump himself; he's simply licensed his name and likeness. But this means he can use the cut he personally earns from NFT INT for whatever he likes – including his 2024 bid.

Not everyone was impressed by Trump's first foray into NFTs, however. According to accusations on social media, the supposedly "hand-drawn art" bore a striking resemblance to various images online, including stock backgrounds and products listed for sale on websites such as Amazon and Walmart. NFT INT reportedly never confirmed whether it paid to license the artwork shown in the pictures, prompting the cryptocurrency website CryptoVinco to tweet: "Donald Trump to face potential lawsuit after his NFTs used stolen stock photos." 

No lawsuit ever materialized, but Trump has apparently anticipated a different kind of backlash from the "Fake News Media" following the release of his second collection. In another Instagram post, he wrote: "I hope everyone notices, & I'm sure the Fake News won't, that I'm leaving the price of the Trading Cards the same as last time, even though they are selling for MANY TIMES MORE (It's called the MARKET!), & sold out almost immediately, because I want my fans & supporters to make money, & have fun doing it. I could have raised the price MUCH HIGHER... but I didn't choose to do so. I WILL BE GIVEN NO 'NICE GUY' CREDIT?"

We'll have to wait and see what percentage of the $4.6 million goes to Trump. But he's got plenty of other merchandise on the market in the meantime...

Ever the businessman, Trump has not shied away from turning his recent court cases into a money-maker.

When Manhattan District Attorney (DA) Alvin Bragg indicted Trump on 34 felony counts on March 30 – the culmination of a years-long investigation into hush money payments Trump allegedly made in 2018 – it made history. The former POTUS became the first president ever to be indicted, though he's pleaded 'not guilty' to all charges and didn't have his mugshot taken.

Bragg received a fierce backlash from Trump supporters who believed the case was politically motivated. And Trump's 2024 presidential campaign made sure they had an easy way to show their allegiance: a new range of merchandise was released just hours after the first indictment was announced. 

This didn't stop Trump's campaign from making a mugshot of their own. The image shows Trump holding a sign that says 45-47, presumably a reference to the fact he served as the 45th POTUS and hopes to serve as the 47th, and standing in front of a chart that gives his height as 6ft 5in. (The former president is apparently growing: his 2012 driving license lists his height as 6ft 2in, while a White House report that was issued in 2018 lists it as 6ft 3in.)

The fake mugshot was emblazoned on T-shirts, mugs, and posters. All of this merchandise is still available for as much as $36 a pop – and the profits have clearly added up; according to POLITICO, the Trump campaign claimed to have made $15.4 million in the few months following the former POTUS's indictment on March 30. 

Trump's campaign received another major boon in the form of a genuine mugshot (pictured), taken as part of the ongoing investigation into election interference. Trump's MAGA store now contains items ranging from beverage coolers and bumper stickers to coffee mugs and T-shirts, all featuring the now-iconic image with the caption 'NEVER SURRENDER'. 

Retailing for between $12 and $34 each, the merchandise has apparently contributed to a surge of donations in the wake of his latest legal trouble. According to a social media by Steven Cheung, Trump's campaign spokesperson, Team Trump "raised $9.4 million since the mugshot; surpassed $20m mark for the month of August alone." 

His post revealed that sales of the mugshot T-shirt have totaled $1.7 million, while coffee mugs have netted $864,000 and posters $8,600. But does this money really belong to Trump? Some people think not, with online reports circulating that Trump may have violated copyright laws by profiting from an image that was taken by Fulton County Jail.

Now discover Donald Trump's long list of major lawsuits