World Liberty Financial, the crypto company owned by President Donald Trump, was already laying its tracks

Zachary Folkman, who used to run a business called Date Hotter Girls, messaged a Cayman Islands crypto startup through Signal. He pitched a deal: swap coins to boost each other's reputations.

World Liberty Financial, the crypto company partly owned by President Donald Trump, was already laying its tracks before he even stepped into the White House for the second time, according to The New York Times.

After being contacted by a Cayman Islands crypto startup through Signal, Zachary Folkman, who used to run a business called Date Hotter Girls, pitched a coin swap deal to boost each other’s reputations. But the startup would have to secretly hand over millions to World Liberty just to be mentioned in the same sentence as Trump, Folkman said.

He bragged that others were already paying $10 million to $30 million for the same privilege and that the startup would have to pay "seven figures" to be in a photo together. However, the startup executives refused, calling it unethical as it would be like buying endorsements and lying about it.

Even after the rejections, the Times alleges that World Liberty kept pitching and selling its coins around the world, managing to rake in more than $550 million from investors in Israel, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The report comes after the president's comeback to power opened new doors for him to blur the lines between private business and government.

World Liberty, which is mostly owned by a Trump family company, has been getting direct boosts from presidential decisions, according to the outlet.

After Trump announced a national crypto stockpile that included a coin the company backs, the value of their holdings shot up. He also filled top jobs with crypto fans, had a former crypto advisor appointed as the SEC chairman, and killed the Justice Department’s crypto crimes task force.

World Liberty has been busy selling its coins to foreign buyers, which gave overseas investors a new way to cozy up to the Trump administration.

Some of those investors were managing firms under investigation by the US government. One fraud case was even paused after an executive poured millions into World Liberty. Other investors were trying to grow businesses that would need federal approval.

The company pitched at least five startups on striking deals to swap coins, but demanded that they pay huge sums to keep the partnerships secret.

"It’s a black spot on our industry," said Andre Cronje, founder of SonicLabs, which was one of the startups pitched.

Folkman and Chase Herro, who manages Trump’s personal fortune, were the main drivers of the partnerships, always mentioning the president to startups in an effort to close the deals.

David Wachsman, a spokesman for World Liberty, denied any wrongdoing, describing the partnerships as “thoughtful, strategic exchanges.” He added that the accusations of political favors were “false, absurd and dangerous.”

Despite the rejections, the Times claims that the partnerships were part of a broader strategy by Trump to use his administrative power to generate personal income.

The president’s family company owns about 60% of World Liberty and is set to receive about 75% of the revenue from any coin sales, according to internal documents.

“It’s one of the more successful things we’ve done,” said Eric Trump, who runs the family business, at the Trump Doral golf course in Florida.

He and Donald Trump Jr. are both personally involved in managing World Liberty, working closely with partners like Folkman, Herro, and Zach Witkoff to forge new partnerships and expand the company’s footprint.

Zach, the son of Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, helped arrange meetings in Pakistan for the startups with Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif.

The meetings involved arranging limousines, police escorts and even dancers for the startups, and none of the US officials attended any of the meetings, according to Wachsman.

Trump's crypto bets explode after election night

Trump’s second election win flipped everything. As soon as the polls closed, World Liberty’s account on X, formerly Twitter, posted, "Big things on the horizon."

Overnight, investment poured into their coins. Blockchain records showed that a lot of the buyers came from Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, and the UAE.

Since Trump returned, some of these investors have been chasing US expansion. Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, bought $75 million worth of World Liberty’s coin.

Sun, who is being sued by the SEC for fraud, claimed his investment was a sign of his faith in the project. However, shortly after the purchase, the SEC asked a judge to freeze Sun’s case, indicating a possible settlement.

The Times claimed the real pitch was to have startups pay $10 million to $30 million for World Liberty’s coins and get a smaller investment back in return.

The report adds that five startups struck deals with World Liberty, which weren't disclosed to the public. One, the Sui Foundation, saw its token price rise more than 10% after announcing a partnership with the Trump company.

The report adds that Eric Trump later gave some investment advice to his followers on X. He advised them that it was a good