Media Must Cover Trump's Prediction Market Ties as Corrupt

Donald Trump Jr. joined Kalshi as a paid strategic advisor in January 2025, then joined Polymarket's advisory board in August 2025 after his venture firm made a strategic investment in the platform. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has used the full weight of the federal government to protect both companies: the CFTC withdrew its 2024 proposal to ban political prediction markets, filed amicus briefs defending Polymarket and Kalshi against state gambling enforcement, and launched lawsuits against six states — including Minnesota, after it became the first to pass an outright legislative ban. The president's family is financially invested in these platforms. The president's regulators are suing states on their behalf. And the CFTC's new "Innovation Advisory Committee," tasked with drafting regulations for crypto and prediction markets, includes the CEOs of Polymarket and Kalshi themselves. This is the regulated writing the regulations that govern them — with the president's son on their payroll. 

This conflict sits on top of Trump's broader crypto empire, which netted him over $1.2 billion in his first year back in office through World Liberty Financial tokens and memecoin royalties — ventures that have benefited directly from the simultaneous dismantling of crypto enforcement across the SEC, DOJ, and CFTC. The pattern is the same every time: Trump family financial interests appear, federal regulators stand down, and the industry booms.

We call on the media to cover Trump's prediction market and crypto regulatory agenda not as tech policy, but as a corruption story — one that asks who profits from each regulatory decision and why the answer keeps being the same family. The public deserves reporting that connects the money to the policy every single time.