President Donald Trump may have broad legal protections for actions taken in office.
But a former State Department official says those protections may not shield him from a different kind of reckoning: a potential wave of civil lawsuits from crypto investors who lost billions of dollars on the president’s memecoin.
Richard Stengel, a former senior State Department official, warned during an appearance on MS NOW that Trump’s expanding business empire — particularly his crypto ventures — could create enormous legal exposure after he leaves office.
“There’s been corruption of some types in the Oval Office before,” Stengel said. “But the scale of what he’s doing is just beyond imagination.”
His comments came after new data showed that nearly 1 million wallets that bought Trump’s $TRUMP memecoin were collectively down about $3.81 billion, according to blockchain analytics firm Nansen. The losses are concentrated among later buyers, while a much smaller group of early investors recorded major gains.
The number has added fuel to an already explosive debate over Trump’s financial interests while serving as president.
Trump’s annual financial disclosure, filed in late June, reported more than $2.2 billion in income for 2025. The largest share came from crypto-linked ventures, including nearly $800 million tied to World Liberty Financial and roughly $635 million in income connected to the $TRUMP memecoin.
For supporters, the disclosure is proof that Trump remains financially independent and successful.
For critics, it is evidence of something far more troubling: a president whose personal brand, official power and private business interests are increasingly intertwined.
Stengel argued that the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Trump v. United States does not erase possible legal risks tied to private conduct.
The ruling gave former presidents absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within their core constitutional authority and presumptive immunity for other official acts. But it did not grant immunity for unofficial or private behavior.
That distinction matters.
“তিনি is still available for prosecution for acts that he does as a private citizen,” Stengel said, predicting that Trump’s finances could face greater scrutiny after his presidency.
He also suggested that investors who lost money on the $TRUMP token could eventually seek relief through civil litigation.
“I assume also there will be shareholder lawsuits by the million people that lost nearly $4 billion on buying his meme coin,” Stengel said.
Whether such lawsuits will actually materialize remains uncertain.
Buying a volatile cryptocurrency does not automatically create a valid legal claim. Investors would need to establish specific legal grounds, such as false or misleading statements, unlawful promotion, securities-law violations or other actionable conduct. The $TRUMP token’s terms and structure, investor disclosures, marketing language and the facts surrounding individual purchases would all matter.
Still, the scale of the reported losses has made the issue impossible to ignore.
Nansen’s data found that the majority of $TRUMP buyers are now underwater, after the token fell sharply from its early peak. CoinDesk reported that the token’s value had fallen about 96% from its high, while two-thirds of tracked holders were carrying losses.
That collapse has become politically uncomfortable because Trump’s personal earnings tied to crypto have moved in the opposite direction.
Reuters reported that Trump disclosed more than $1.4 billion in income from crypto ventures in 2025, including $635 million connected to memecoin sales and nearly $800 million linked to World Liberty Financial.
A separate Reuters investigation estimated that the Trump family’s crypto ventures had generated roughly $2.3 billion while outside investors suffered major losses across several related ventures. The report emphasized that the figures were based on public filings, blockchain data and market analysis, not a court finding of wrongdoing.
Trump has dismissed criticism of his growing wealth.
When asked recently about the increase in his personal fortune, the president attributed it to broader market gains.
“Because the stock market’s going up, everybody’s profiting,” Trump said.
Stengel rejected that explanation, arguing that many ordinary supporters are not seeing the same benefit.
“I think his supporters would be surprised because they haven’t been benefitting from the stock market like he has,” he said.
The debate over Trump’s crypto businesses has also revived concerns about conflicts of interest.
Presidents are generally exempt from the federal conflict-of-interest statute that applies to many executive branch officials, but ethics experts have long argued that presidents should avoid personal financial arrangements that could create the appearance of foreign influence or policy favoritism. Trump has not placed his businesses into a traditional blind trust, instead using a revocable trust managed by his sons.
The White House has repeatedly denied that Trump or his family engages in conflicts of interest.
But critics argue that the sheer scale of Trump’s crypto earnings, paired with his administration’s role in shaping crypto policy, makes the issue unlike anything modern Washington has seen.
For now, no mass lawsuit has been filed and no court has found Trump liable for investor losses tied to his memecoin.
But Stengel’s warning points to a larger possibility.
Trump may leave office protected from prosecution for many actions taken as president.
That does not mean every legal question surrounding his private business empire will disappear.
And for the millions of people who watched the value of $TRUMP fall, the fight over who profited — and who paid the price — may only be beginning.
