Elizabeth Warren

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Mr. President, tomorrow, the Senate will vote on a crypto bill that poses massive risks to our families, to our national security, and to our economy. And if that is not bad enough, while Americans across this country suffer from an affordability crisis, this bill will turbocharge President Donald Trump's ability to rake in billions and billions of dollars from crypto. Late last night, we got the details of President Trump and the Republicans' final offer on ethics on this bill, and it reads exactly like what you would expect the most corrupt President in our history to bless: a weak fig leaf that will do nothing to stop him from making his next $1.4 billion in crypto profits. First, it makes sure that the law could never be enforced against Donald Trump because it gives his political appointees the power to turn off enforcement of all of these ethics provisions. Second, it contains major loopholes designed to allow President Trump to keep earning billions of dollars from his crypto business, including World Liberty Financial and his new bank. Yeah, you heard that right. On August 14, World Liberty Trust Company received preliminary approval for a Federal banking charter. Donald Trump and his family own 38.25 percent of the bank. An investment fund backed by the UAE's National Security Advisor and brother of the UAE's President reportedly owns 49 percent of the bank. The bank charter was conditionally granted by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a Federal banking Agency controlled by--wait for it--Donald Trump. Donald Trump is now the first President in American history to own and oversee his very own bank. It may be the most brazen act of self- dealing that our financial system has ever seen. The bank can serve as the financial hub of the President's web of corruption. With a bank charter, World Liberty will be able to operate nationwide, offer families and businesses financial products and services, and enjoy the credibility that comes with having the Federal Government's stamp of approval. The bank's primary product is the USD1 stablecoin, which is currently issued by a third party bank partner under a licensing agreement with World Liberty. The stablecoin arrangement earned President Trump $200 million last year. You know, that is a big chunk of the $1.4 billion that he earned from his various crypto ventures just in 2025 alone. USD1 is already the fifth largest stablecoin in the entire world, and now, with the Federal banking charter, World Liberty can issue the stablecoin directly without a separately regulated bank partner. The charter could supercharge the growth of USD1, increase its interconnectedness with the U.S. financial system, and, as a result, drive even greater profits for President Trump and his family. Donald Trump's bank is a new vehicle for billionaires, corporations, and foreign countries to bribe him. These entities could cut Trump into everyday transactions and business deals by making payments using USD1 instead of, you know, traditional checks or debit cards or wire transfers. Trump could charge transaction fees, similar to Visa and MasterCard, and generate interest on the cash deposited with World Liberty in exchange for the USD1 stablecoin, similar to the business model of a traditional bank. Look, this is not hypothetical. We already saw this play out last year in a trial run before World Liberty actually got its bank charter. MGX, which is a UAE state-owned investment fund, made a $2 billion investment in the crypto exchange Binance. Instead of using fiat currency--ordinary money like the U.S. dollar--to purchase stock in Binance, MGX paid Binance using USD1, cutting Trump in on the deal. Coincidentally, President Trump pardoned the founder of Binance, who had pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program. Trump has also provided an array of foreign policy favors to the UAE, including giving the UAE a special exemption from U.S. export controls and approving the sales of advanced AI chips to UAE companies despite repeated warnings from our own national security officials that the technology could be diverted to China. So now, with Trump's Federal bank charter, we could just see more of the same thing. Even setting aside the clear conflict of interest and the corruption, World Liberty's charter application would have been flatly denied under any previous administration, Republican or Democrat, due to its national security risks, anti-money laundering vulnerabilities, and lack of competent management. So consider this: A foreign intelligence official backed a minority investment in the entity behind Trump's bank. Companies affiliated with the bank--Trump's bank--reportedly sold millions of dollars' worth of tokens to buyers that conducted business with North Korean state- sponsored hackers, with sanctioned Russian money laundering entities, and with other illicit actors; partnered with a venture whose main project was led by individuals sanctioned by the U.S. Government; and accepted $100 million from a businessman reportedly under investigation for money laundering by the United Kingdom. That is who Trump is in bed with in order to do this banking deal. Most of the executives in charge of Trump's bank have little or no experience in banking. The bank's founder and proposed president, Zachary Witkoff, also happens to be the son of President Trump's Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff, and he has never worked before in a senior banking role. One of the bank's board members was the chairman and CEO of an accounting company that was subject to multiple SEC and PCAOB enforcement actions, including for ``systematic quality control failures and violations of audit standards.'' In other words, there is one person here who has some experience, and that is the person who has already been called out for systematic quality control failures and violations of audit standards. Then there is the chief compliance officer of Trump's bank, who previously served as the chief compliance officer of a large crypto platform that blew up in 2022 called Voyager Digital. The platform faced multiple enforcement actions from State and Federal regulators for compliance failures, including luring customers to store their money on the platform by falsely claiming that the money would be FDIC insured. So that is who Donald Trump has pulled together. But Donald Trump owns the bank, and he controls the Federal banking Agency that is responsible for approving the charter of that bank, and the application miraculously was approved. Now it is on to Congress to step in and terminate this corrupt bank charter, and that is exactly what the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act would do. The bill would prohibit Federal banking Agencies from approving various types of banking applications when the applicant is owned or controlled by a range of senior government officials. It would also require the termination of any such charters or applications that have been granted since January 20, 2025, which includes World Liberty's national bank charter. Look, this is just common sense. It is the least that Congress could do to start unwinding President Trump's web of corruption. Now, unfortunately, my Republican colleagues want to move in exactly the opposite direction. They seem intent on furthering President Trump's corruption. Look no further than the Senate's first order of business after the August recess. Here we are. We have been away for weeks. We come back, and what do the Republicans in the Senate put on the floor for us to work on? Is it a bill to make life more affordable for American families? No, not that. Is it a bill to end Donald Trump's dangerous war in Iran? Oh, not that. Is it a bill that would juice the value of President Trump's crypto empire and reward the crypto billionaires who have facilitated his corruption? Bing, bing, bing-- that is what the Republicans put on the floor. As if the latest glaring loopholes in the ethics provision weren't enough, it doesn't even apply to Donald Trump's new bank. So here is the deal: Instead of further enriching the President, maybe Congress should curb this corruption--just clean up a little bit here--and let's start by passing my bill, the Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act. Let's make sure that we do not pass a crypto bill that will let Donald Trump continue to rake in billions of dollars in crypto profits while working families across this country struggle to deal with higher prices and an economy that gets worse by the day. Mr. President, as if in legislative session and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 5389, introduced earlier today; that the bill be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.