Eric Trump, son of former U.S. President Donald Trump, has recently voiced his strong belief that stablecoins could be instrumental in preserving the strength of the U.S. dollar. In an interview with The New York Post, Eric Trump stated his conviction that stablecoins will "save the US dollar".
Eric Trump highlighted USD1, a stablecoin associated with the Trump family's crypto project, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), which has faced scrutiny from regulators and financial commentators. When WLFI's plans were initially revealed in March, concerns arose regarding potential conflicts of interest. Attorney Andrew Rossow described the stablecoin as a "direct affront to constitutional safeguards meant to prevent conflicts of interest".
In April, U.S. Representative Maxine Waters suggested that Donald Trump might be considering replacing the U.S. dollar with his own stablecoin. Waters speculated that Trump might want stablecoins to be used for government payments, including those made by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Social Security, and tax payments.
These concerns about conflicts of interest were also raised by five Democratic senators in a March letter, who cautioned that a sitting president's direct financial stake in a stablecoin could pose "unprecedented risks to our financial system".
The Trump administration has taken steps to regulate stablecoins, including the GENIUS Act, signed into law on July 18. Despite these regulatory efforts, critics have pointed out that the former President's personal wealth has increased by approximately $2.4 billion since 2022 due to his crypto-related ventures. In early August, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Chris Van Hollen, and Ron Wyden sent a letter to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency expressing concerns.
Eric Trump is not alone in suggesting that stablecoins could bolster the U.S. dollar. Federal Reserve Bank Governor Christopher Waller stated in February that he supports the adoption of stablecoins, as they "will broaden the reach of the dollar across the globe and make it even more of a reserve currency than it is now". LayerZero Labs founder and CEO Bryan Pellegrino said in early April that stablecoins are the best tool for the U.S. government to maintain the U.S. dollar's hegemony in global financial markets, suggesting they could be "the last Trojan Horse or vampire attack on every single other currency in the world”.
Conversely, European asset manager Amundi suggested in early July that new, more accommodating stablecoin regulations could potentially threaten the long-term dominance of the U.S. dollar.
According to disclosures, Donald Trump held more than 15 billion WLFI tokens at the end of 2024, a position worth more than $3 billion at recent prices. Eric Trump downplayed the financial windfall, stating, "If my father cared about monetizing his life, the last thing he would have done is run for president, where all we've done is un-monetize our life".
