Rep. Ro Khanna of California sees a conflict of interest that she wants to avoid
A US lawmaker has aimed at barring President Donald Trump, his family, and members of Congress from trading cryptocurrency or stocks.
Rep. Ro Khanna of California made the announcement during an interview on MSNBC, expressing concern over what he described as conflicts of interest between Trump and the crypto industry. Khanna pointed specifically to World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a crypto venture linked to Trump’s son, Eric Trump, and accused the president of using his influence to benefit family-related business interests.
Khanna also tied the proposal to Trump’s recent pardon of Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao. He alleged that the pardon represented “blatant corruption,” suggesting that it was politically motivated and connected to Zhao’s alleged financial support of WLFI.
“You’ve got a foreign billionaire who was basically engaged in money laundering, and then he petitions for a pardon from Donald Trump after funneling money to terrorists,” Khanna said during his interview. Zhao, who pleaded guilty last year to failing to maintain an adequate anti-money-laundering program, has denied such claims, calling similar accusations from other lawmakers false.
Eric Trump, who leads WLFI, has repeatedly denied any involvement by his father in the project. He stated in September that his father “is running a nation” and “not involved in our businesses in any way.” Despite these assurances, Khanna’s proposal calls for strict prohibitions to prevent elected officials and their families from holding or trading digital assets and from accepting foreign-linked money through cryptocurrency ventures.
Khanna’s bill has not yet been formally introduced in Congress, but it comes amid growing debate over the financial activities of public officials. Ironically, government filings show Khanna himself has traded more than $80 million in stocks this year, prompting some critics to question whether his proposal addresses the broader issue of transparency and accountability among lawmakers.
President Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, has also announced that it is getting into the prediction markets segment.
