WATCH: Trump declines to say he’ll step away from personal crypto ventures

From PBS NewsHour.

President Donald Trump refused to say at a news conference Friday whether he would step away from some of his family’s crypto ventures to help pass crypto bills in Congress.

When a reporter asked Trump about his foray into crypto, noting some Congressional Democrats refuse to vote for any crypto bills until the president relinquishes some of his personal ventures, Trump sidestepped the issue, instead talking about how strong the industry is thanks to him.

Trump said he "got involved with" crypto before he decided to run for a second term. But since his election, Trump and many of his family members have released cryptocurrencies, including Trump’s memecoin, $TRUMP, his family’s stablecoin, $WLFI, his wife’s memecoin, $MELANIA.

Eighteen Senate Democrats recently joined with Republicans to pass a major piece of crypto legislation. Critics say Trump and his family are profiting off of their government positions and erasing the line between government and business.

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