Trump's Own Bank Regulator Grants a National Charter to the Trump Family's Crypto Firm — the First Time a Sitting President's Company Has Been Approved to Run a Bank
On Friday, August 14, 2026, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency — a bureau of the Treasury Department headed by a Trump appointee, Comptroller Jonathan Gould — granted preliminary conditional approval for a national trust bank charter to World Liberty Trust Company, the banking arm of World Liberty Financial. World Liberty Financial was co-founded by President Trump and his sons Donald Jr., Eric and Barron alongside Zach Witkoff, son of Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff; an entity tied to the president and his family owns roughly 38 percent of the business. It is the first time in American history that a company owned by a sitting president's family has been cleared to operate a federally chartered bank. The charter, which is conditional and does not authorize the bank to open until preopening requirements are met, would let World Liberty issue and redeem its dollar-backed stablecoin USD1 — more than $4 billion in circulation — and hold digital assets in custody as a fiduciary, without the middlemen it currently pays. It may not issue loans or take direct deposits. Within hours, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, announced the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act, which would bar senior government officials and their families from owning or controlling a bank. Nine Senate Democrats and Sen. Bernie Sanders signed on. The White House said the president's holdings sit in discretionary accounts run by third parties and that there are no conflicts of interest; World Liberty said the charter subjects it to permanent federal supervision that will outlast the administration. Warren had pressed the OCC in January to halt its review until Trump divested, and was rebuffed.
“All of President Trump's investment holdings are held in fully discretionary accounts managed by independent third-party financial institutions. There are no conflicts of interest.”