how is the irs going to tax trump after 800m on his crypto coins

reuters just reported that the trump family pulled in more than 800 million dollars from crypto asset sales in the first half of 2025, mostly tied to world liberty financial token sales and the trump memecoin. trump’s latest financial disclosure also shows meaningful crypto income and holdings, but that filing covers 2024 and lists about 57 million from WLFI token sales rather than the full 2025 haul.

so the simple answer is this. the irs taxes crypto like property. when you sell coins or swap them, you owe tax on the gain just like stocks. there is no special rule that says politicians get a pass.

but the type of tax depends on how that money was made. if it was from selling tokens he already owned, then it is capital gains. short term if held under a year, long term if held over a year. basis matters a lot here because founders usually get tokens very cheap or free, so most of the sale price becomes taxable gain.

if it was from launching or promoting a token and taking a cut from initial sales or fees, that is generally treated more like business or ordinary income at the value received, and then any later sale triggers capital gains on top. we do not know the exact split without the internal paperwork, but the tax buckets are not mysterious.

also worth noting. unrealized gains are not taxed yet. only the parts actually sold count for 2025 income. and since trump is a florida resident, there is no state income tax layer, so this is mostly federal.

net net, the irs will treat this like any other high income crypto earner. report the income, pay ordinary income tax where relevant, pay capital gains tax on disposals, and likely make estimated payments through the year. the headline is big, but the tax treatment is boringly normal.