Traditional finance is a Ponzi scheme, says Donald Trump Jr
He criticises the traditional finance system as having severe inefficiencies
[SINGAPORE] Donald Trump Jr, the eldest son of current United States President Donald Trump, lashed out against the traditional finance system in a panel discussion in Singapore on Wednesday (Oct 1).
Labelling the system as “undemocratic” and “broken”, he claimed that when his family entered politics, 300 of their bank accounts were “eliminated overnight”.
“All of a sudden, when you went from the top of that pyramid to the bottom… you realise there is nothing egalitarian about any of these systems,” he said.
It was a reference to his family and its business interests being targeted by the traditional finance (or “trad fi”) system “because they didn’t like what we were saying”.
“And what we realised was that the trad fi system was so broken, so undemocratised, that for so many years, we were just the top of a Ponzi scheme, right?
“We could pick up the phone. We could call any banker in the world. We could get a loan for a project that we were working on. All of a sudden... you went from the top of that pyramid to the bottom.”
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He added that the traditional finance system was mired in severe inefficiencies, and allowed people “making seven figures a year to push a piece of paper from one side of a desk to the other, adding absolutely no value”.
He was speaking at a 30-minute panel discussion at the Token2049 event held at Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Marina Bay. The event has attracted 25,000 participants at the cost of US$999 a ticket.
Trump Jr described his family’s platform, World Liberty Financial, as the future of finance and where finance would be headed.
Set up in 2024, World Liberty lists nine co-founders on its Web site, including US President Trump and his three children – Eric Trump, Trump Jr and Barron Trump.
Digital tokens backing World Liberty began trading in September.
Not political
During the panel discussion, Trump Jr insisted that World Liberty is “100 per cent” not a political organisation, but is one that seeks to benefit Americans and the world.
“I think stablecoins are going to be the thing that backfills all of these countries that used to buy US Treasuries,” he said.
He added that World Liberty is going to create dollar hegemony that would enable the US to lead and have the power to keep many places safe and sound.
“I think it’s going to greatly benefit the world,” he added.
Following a familiar playbook, Trump Jr took jabs at his father’s political opponents, including former US president Joe Biden and former vice-president Kamala Harris.
He also criticised the mainstream media, saying that they have “discredited themselves so often” that people are turning to alternative sources of information.
Zach Witkoff, chief executive officer and co-founder of World Liberty, the only other speaker on the panel, took aim at The New York Times, asking the crowd: “How many people in this room really think that The New York Times is a trustworthy publication?”
In September, President Trump sued the newspaper for US$15 billion on a defamation charge. The case was dismissed by a federal judge in Florida shortly after.
The panel discussion, titled “World Liberty Financial: The Future of Money Backed by USD1”, was moderated by David Wachsman, the chief executive officer of Wachsman, a global strategy and communications consultancy.
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