President Donald Trump is pushing back against conflict-of-interest questions after his family pulled in more than $1 billion last year through cryptocurrency ventures and other business dealings — a figure that has drawn scrutiny from critics who say his financial interests are too tangled with federal policy to ignore.
Trump denied any conflict, though he offered no detailed accounting of the earnings or explanation of how the various revenue streams were kept separate from his official duties. The $1 billion figure covers cryptocurrency operations along with other, unspecified business activities tied to Trump and his family.
The crypto question
The earnings come as the White House has taken a notably hands-off approach to regulating digital assets. No formal disclosure of which specific ventures generated the bulk of the income has been made public. Whether Congress moves to compel additional financial disclosures remains an open question.
Vatican’s break with St. Pius X
Separately, the Vatican announced that the Society of St. Pius X — a traditionalist Catholic organization that has operated in a canonical gray area for decades — has officially entered schism. That’s a severe ecclesiastical judgment, placing the group outside full communion with Rome.
The Society of St. Pius X was founded in 1970 by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in opposition to reforms from the Second Vatican Council. It has long resisted Vatican authority on liturgical matters, and tensions between the group and successive popes have stretched across more than fifty years. The declaration of schism hardens what had been a prolonged, unresolved standoff into a formal rupture.
What consequences the Vatican intends to impose on Society members — and whether the group’s bishops and priests will face additional canonical penalties — has not been specified.
