JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — Despite growing bipartisan efforts to bring clear regulation to the digital asset industry, one major issue hindering legislation in the U.S. is President Donald Trump and his family’s actions in the sector, according to Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.)
“It’s no secret that my side of the aisle would prefer not to see any sitting President — I won’t name one — participating in this market while a sitting president unless those assets are in a sealed trust,” Craig stated during her address at the SALT conference in Jackson Hole on Wednesday.
Trump and his family, particularly Eric Trump, who was present at the venue during Craig’s remarks, have established businesses in the industry, especially since Trump regained office this past January.
Trump has issued several meme coins associated with his name, and his social media platform, Truth Social, has applied for various exchange-traded funds. Eric Trump co-founded American Bitcoin, a mining company owned by Hut 8.
Craig, joined by Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wi.), discussed the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which the House passed with significant bipartisan support last month. The Senate Banking Committee is drafting its own version of crypto market structure legislation.
While most Republicans support the bill, many Democrats remain skeptical, largely due to the Trump family’s involvement in the industry, Craig noted.
“The elephant in the room here is the President’s family’s participation in this marketplace and that’s a stumbling block to getting more Democrats to support the legislation,” she commented.
Craig mentioned that although there are provisions in the legislation to limit this conflict of interest, stronger measures are needed to persuade some lawmakers.
“If we could find some language that would allow or prevent conflicts of interest from occurring, I think you would see a lot more Democrats supporting it,” she stated.
As the ranking member on the House Agriculture Committee, she is the leading Democrat on that committee. This isn’t the first time she’s addressed the Trump family’s crypto engagements — during a committee hearing in June on the Clarity Act, she indicated that his crypto actions were “making this debate more difficult” and suggested Congress should impose restrictions on how the U.S. president can trade in markets overseen by the CFTC, including crypto.
Despite her comments, Craig still voted to advance the Clarity Act without any such provisions being included.
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