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Bibles, Sneakers & Crypto: Trump's $1.2B Side Hustles; USA Advances to Round of 16 with 2-0 Win; Swift, Kelce Rumored to Marry This Weekend in NYC. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired July 02, 2026 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:00:02]
BRAD SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: That does it for CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. I'm Brad Smith. CNN THIS MORNING with Audie Cornish starts right now.
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: So, today in the group chat, from Bibles to sneakers and also crypto, a new disclosure report shows that Trump pulled in billions last year. Is he profiting too much off of the office?
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TY COBB, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL IN TRUMP'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION: We are seeing the greatest onslaught of corruption in the history of mankind.
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CORNISH: And every president thinks about his legacy. How will the nation's 250th birthday factor into Trump's?
And a sky-high proposal. Two daring climbers go to the tippy-top of the Empire State Building, get engaged, and then get arrested.
It's a historic win for Team USA. Their World Cup dream still very much alive.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought when I was screaming that I was going to pass out, like I was so excited. It's -- I cannot believe it. It's amazing.
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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We're all profiting. I'm profiting, because I have a lot of money and a lot of cash.
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CORNISH: All right. So, President Trump there, dismissing concerns that he is profiting off of his second term, even as disclosures show he's cashing in.
Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish, and here's where we start: the more than $1 billion President Trump just revealed he has made since returning to office last year.
A new disclosure report totals more than 927 pages, so it details a vast portfolio of money-making operations. There's more than $1 billion in cryptocurrency ventures, and the royalties. His properties also generated another $77 million.
Then there are the side hustles. That's $4 million for Trump-branded watches, $200,000 for the Bibles, and about $67,000 for sneakers and fragrances.
So, all in all, this cash haul makes even some of his most ardent supporters queasy.
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MEGYN KELLY, PODCAST HOST, "THE MEGYN KELLY SHOW": It's so grifty. I'm not going to lie. It's grifty. You know, the Trump family is grifty.
There's been, like, story after story about all the money that his sons are making off of the government.
I say this as a true fan of theirs, but I didn't like it when Hunter Biden was doing it. And I don't like it when the Trumps are doing it.
DANA PERINO, FOX NEWS HOST: It does feel a little bit like, wait, what is going on? And your children are involved in this? And if you remember, we spent a lot of time talking about Hunter Biden.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: OK. Joining me now in the group chat: Mike Dubke, former Trump White House communications director; and Meghan Hays, former director of message planning for the Biden White House.
So, you guys are in a great position to talk about this. And the whataboutism to follow?
MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: I hear Hunter. We've got all the kids covered.
CORNISH: You've got all the kids.
So, first of all, you've got "The New York Post": "Hunter Biden sleaze -- -style sleaze is just as slimy when the Trump boys do it;" "Trump Family and 'Honest Graft'."
Spoiler alert: that's also not one that's excited about what Trump is doing.
And then "Mother Jones." Look at this collection: "The presidency is making Trump exponentially richer." The thing people have asked me the most is, what do we mean when we
say, "makes money"? Like, how does he make his money? And just to be clear, that billion dollars, when it comes to crypto, it's basically every time someone buys a crypto coin, which is virtual, they make money off of that.
Anytime another company comes to them and says, Look, we want to sell crypto with your face on it, they make money off of that.
And we have not gotten to the trades: actively buying and selling stocks, making money from that; the dividends, et cetera.
What's important here that I'm trying to suss out is why this term, and why things that he is so nakedly making policy directives about?
DUBKE: So, I think there's a -- there's a couple of questions there. Why this term?
First and foremost, I think after the first term, the president and the family took away, maybe, a lesson that Megyn Kelly and others have issue with. But I think this is the lesson they learned, which is if we do everything out in the open and try not to hide anything, try not to have some naming rights deal or something that we don't talk about. But if we disclose everything and the American people can decide --
CORNISH: That's transparency.
DUBKE: -- that's transparency. And then, if you have transparency, what are you going to get upset about?
[06:05:00]
CORNISH: Right. And this --
DUBKE: I think that's a lesson learned.
CORNISH: It is. And I want to -- you have a second point here. To follow up on that and to reinforce it, "The New York Times," of course, did an interview with him earlier in this year.
And someone said, Look, why are you doing all these deals now? And to your point, he said, Because I found out that nobody cared.
MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING FOR THE BIDEN WHITE HOUSE: Well, I do think people care, because people care now, because they can't afford their health insurance. And he went into a war that no one asked for, so their gas prices went up. They can't afford their groceries.
So, I think the optics here are really terrible for the American people.
But again, it's easier to do it in your second term, because he's not running for reelection. So, he's not the one that suffers. He -- it's Congress that suffers. And the American people who are suffering here. But this is a grift, and I think everyone sees it as a grift. And he
is right. No one -- there's not really anything anyone can do about it. So, he's just going to continue to do it and get richer at the expense of the American people.
CORNISH: And to be clear, there is something someone could do about it. Congress could have oversight --
HAYS: Well --
CORNISH: -- and spend the amount of time it spend digging into the money that the -- that Hunter Biden made on a Burisma board into this. Seems -- I don't expect that to happen.
DUBKE: I always thought -- I always thought Hunter's art was the worst grift.
HAYS: But here's -- here's the problem. Hunter wasn't the president of the United States. Donald Trump is the president of the United States and making a ton of money.
We haven't even talked about the money his family is making.
CORNISH: Yes.
HAYS: So, they are comparing apples and oranges here.
CORNISH: So, that's the other thing I want to ask about, Mike. So, one of the things people talk about is, well, what about this family? And Trump says this himself. The Clintons made all this money. The Obamas made all this money. So, I went to go look.
When we look at the net worth of presidents after, that's where Trump is. OK? So, that's just -- that's just even looking at the fact that a lot of these people made their deals out of office. This is his net worth in his fifth year.
The other thing is --
DUBKE: Well --
CORNISH: Go ahead.
DUBKE: Let's -- let's -- yes. But what was their net worth coming into office? You already had the -- I can't do billions.
CORNISH: Yes.
DUBKE: Whatever the number of zeros that is already before you came in. So, I see that statistic and I --
CORNISH: So, you think -- yes, yes, so --
DUBKE: -- throw my statistic back out at you.
CORNISH: I want you to.
DUBKE: That they -- because if you've got that out of luck.
CORNISH: I want you to tell me who you think made $6 billion of that group.
DUBKE: No, no, no. You said net worth.
CORNISH: Yes, yes.
HAYS: A percentage.
DUBKE: Yes, exactly right.
CORNISH: So, a percentage, you feel, are comfortable --
DUBKE: Yes, you're showing a net worth there. And I'm not disagreeing --
CORNISH: OK. So, do we think that's not a lot of money or I --
DUBKE: No, no. We think -- we think.
CORNISH: -- feel gross (ph) looking at that.
DUBKE: We think that's a lot of money. But you're saying that's his net worth right now. If you're saying in the fifth year how much did you make, that was not that statistic.
CORNISH: Yes.
DUBKE: That's the point I'm trying to make.
CORNISH: Point made. So now, we'll get to -- no, I --
DUBKE: All right. I'm going.
CORNISH: I said point made.
DUBKE: I'm leaving.
CORNISH: Now we get to policy.
So, if you order federal -- federal regulators to stop being strict on crypto companies. And then -- let's put up that circle graph again -- you make one point four off billion. To me, that seems like a direct policy problem.
If you are doing stock trades in tech firms that you are taking with you and their CEOs abroad to do deals, that seems like a problem.
And I'm not even getting to Mar-a-Lago, our second White House, where every French fry that goes in a mouth is money that goes to Trump, because it is his property.
So, at what point does this actually become something that is a straight-out embarrassment? It's not walking off the Qatari plane. That's not what people seem to be mad at.
DUBKE: To whom, though? That's what I want to know. To whom? To whom are you asking is the embarrassment. The American people?
CORNISH: I'm going to go with the American people.
DUBKE: To the -- to the president?
CORNISH: I'm going to go with the American people.
DUBKE: OK.
CORNISH: Especially those. Let's say you bought one of these meme coins. You're not making money right now, but guess who is?
DUBKE: Yes. The president is.
HAYS: Well, he -- I mean, he has a cult who buys Bibles from the -- from Donald Trump. I mean, that -- that to me is also a weird juxtaposition. Like what kind of -- what --
CORNISH: But I don't care, because he's not doing policy directives on Bibles.
DUBKE: Well, there is some.
CORNISH: What I care about is his sons have deals in Mideast countries that we are currently protecting via arms with our actual armed services. Like, it feels like my tax dollars are going to protect --
HAYS: But this is where it's really complex.
CORNISH: -- his interests.
HAYS: But this is where it's really complex. And I think that it's hard to sort of pull out all that.
CORNISH: Yes, please tell me, because my friends and family are asking.
HAYS: But I think that's the reason people are asking. I think it's the overall nature of seeing how much money he's made and seeing how corrupt he is and being -- I don't necessarily think you need to have a tangible thing.
I think people need to say, I am suffering. I can't afford my stuff. But Donald Trump is making -- has made $6 billion since he came back into office. There is a problem there.
But to your embarrassment question, Donald Trump is never going to feel embarrassment. And I already think the American people half of the country is already embarrassed by Donald Trump. But I don't know how that matters. How does it all end?
CORNISH: He says it doesn't matter.
HAYS: It doesn't. He keeps getting richer.
DUBKE: Well, from -- from a public policy -- from a public policy standpoint, I could make the argument that the -- the conflict with Iran has probably depressed the value of whatever deals that they had made in that region.
Because now you have a region. No, now you have a region --
CORNISH: I don't think so.
DUBKE: -- that doesn't seem secure anymore.
CORNISH: Yes.
DUBKE: You have money fleeing the UAE, fleeing Qatar, because those areas are now in open conflict or next to open conflict.
So, if you're worried about a Trump Tower here or a Trump Tower there, or whatever the case may be, I could make the argument that those investments are now worth less because of the conflict in Iran.
CORNISH: Yes.
DUBKE: So, it goes directly against his self-interest.
CORNISH: And neither of us will ever know if we're right.
DUBKE: No, we won't.
CORNISH: Because there is now a ban on IRS audits forever on him and his family, based on the Justice Department deal, which is still under question.
DUBKE: Yes, still under question.
HAYS: I'm sure -- I'm sure --
CORNISH: Still under question.
DUBKE: Remember, it's still under question.
CORNISH: So, we'll see if someone rises up.
DUBKE: Yes.
CORNISH: But let me -- let me turn to other things, because this policy stuff stretches even further, right? We're talking about the trade do-over. why the White House is refusing to renew a deal that they negotiated his first time around.
Plus, there is this.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: USA, USA, USA, USA!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: USA, USA, USA, USA!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: USA, USA, USA, USA!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: That's right. Team USA advances to the next round after one of their best players, however, got a red card. So, how are they going to fare against Belgium in the next game?
And then this wild video out of New York: two people climbing to the top of the Empire State Building spire. That's 1,500 feet in the air.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. What's all the hoopla going on over there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two geniuses climbed to the top of the Empire State Building, to the top of the spire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, that's awesome. It's a little hot for that, isn't it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just the beginning of this week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[06:15:29]
CORNISH: So, a historic win for the United States in the World Cup knockout round.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tillman! Malik Tillman! Two-nil, the United States!
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CORNISH: That is a spectacular free-kick goal by midfielder Malik Tillman in the second half that cemented Team USA's victory last night over Bosnia-Herzegovina.
And the Americans advance to the Round of 16 against Belgium. This is happening on Monday.
And last night's win was their first in a knockout match in 24 years. CNN's Coy Wire has more.
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COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: Well, if sports are an emotional roller coaster, this one skipped the breaks. American fans saw joy, then panic, relief, and now euphoria. Their World Cup dream is still very much alive, and it is full steam ahead.
Fans wearing stars and stripes were flying high hours before kickoff.
WIRE (voice-over): And once again, the U.S. team came out breathing fire. Breakout star Folarin Balogun lit the fuse early, burying the opener and breaking out the LeBron James celebration. King James saw it and gave it his royal seal of approval on social media.
But then plot twist: Balogun given a red card. So, 30 nerve-wracking minutes of ten Americans against 11.
But Malik Tillman uncorked a laser 20 meters out after a yellow card that hit the back of the net like it had a boarding pass. Cue the bedlam. The U.S. win 2-nil, first World Cup knockout win since 2002, and only their second one ever.
America is marching on to the Round of 16. I asked the soft-spoken Tillman how he felt after he scored that second goal.
MALIK TILLMAN, U.S. SOCCER TEAM; I'm a different type of person on the pitch. Of course, maybe you know it. You don't really see my emotions. But then if you score a goal. I mean, I think also you guys saw my emotions. And then that's a great feeling. And, of course, a very proud moment for me.
CHRIS RICHARDS, U.S. SOCCER TEAM; I think it's a proud moment, and it's a moment that we can get a lot of confidence from that. Because we've kept two clean sheets in the last four games, and I think before then we didn't quite have the best record when it came to clean sheets.
So again, it gives us a lot of confidence going into the next round.
WIRE: All right, next mountain to climb: Belgium in Seattle. And it comes with a glass case of emotions. Their top goal scorer, Balogun, suspended after that red card. For now, though, their fans are floating on cloud nine. Maybe on cloud ten.
Audie, losing your leading man could crack a team, but it could also further forge one. Championship runs rarely run smooth. They are forged in moments exactly like this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CORNISH: They are, Coy. Also, notable that Folarin Balogun, who is this star player, is also a birthright citizen. His mother, who is Nigerian, was pregnant when the family was visiting New York in 2001. She wasn't allowed to board a plane back home because of her late- stage pregnancy. She gave birth to Folarin in Brooklyn. His mother says she believes it was fate.
Now, after the break on CNN THIS MORNING, the wedding countdown. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce reportedly getting married this weekend at MSG. Is it true, or will she stick to her lyrics and choose the rose garden over Madison Square?
Plus, you know those sell-by dates on all the food we buy? Well, one state wants to get rid of those dates, and we're going to explain why. And as we go to a break, this is a live look at Chicago.
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[06:23:09]
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Am I being gaslit? Am I being fooled? Like, is she actually getting married at MSG? I can't see it. But she's also a cheugy millennial. I love Taylor, to be clear.
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CORNISH: I'm sorry. The word "cheugy."
Anyway, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, are they getting married? Yes, everyone's talking about it, I guess. Points sign to yes. What's that phrase?
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COMMISSIONER JESSICA TISCH, NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT: In a briefing about major events happening this weekend in New York City, I would be remiss not to mention an event that we are tracking at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.
The NYPD will, of course, have a detail in place, but I am not going to go into more specifics on that at this time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: All right. But fans know that Swift is a mastermind at ruses, so they aren't convinced.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If she's actually having it there, She is using that venue because of the security it offers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of the wedding guests are going to arrive to Madison Square Garden, and they're going to be taken in busses to a secret wedding location.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: The wedding is being dubbed as America's royal wedding and is sure to reshape wedding trends for brides to be.
So, we're bringing in Esther Lee, editorial director at "The Knot." Thank you so much for being here. Good morning.
We've had Dua Lipa and Callum Turner, Charli xcx, George Daniel, Selena Gomez, Benny Blanco. Still waiting word on Zendaya and Tom Holland, though something tells me that that one has happened.
How do celebrity weddings impact the rest of us?
ESTHER LEE, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, "THE KNOT": So, it's so interesting to see pop culture filter through and infiltrate just the mainstream zeitgeist of weddings in general.
What we do find is that more than 2 million couples got married across $100 billion of spend last year, and celebrities are no different. They're here to celebrate life milestones with their loved ones, Taylor Swift included this weekend.
[06:25:05]
CORNISH: I thought that after the pandemic, everybody was doing, like, smaller weddings. I mean, is it -- are weddings back? It doesn't have to be MSG, but are they big again?
LEE: Weddings are certainly back. We are finding that, you know, of course, couples across the country still have an appetite to fall in love; to find their significant other; and of course, get married and have the big celebration that they've dreamt of.
And so, "The Knot" is here to help them, of course, plan their weddings and to also help them source their vendors. In fact, we find that couples are indeed hiring vendor teams just like Taylor right now, who is clearly building out a production for her wedding reception.
CORNISH: Yes, the average cost of a wedding in the U.S. right now, around $36,000. Then, our team did the math, and Swift and Kelce may be spending around 10 million for their wedding. Between renting MSG, decor, tents, flowers.
Is there a way for anyone to save any more when it comes to a wedding in this economy?
LEE: Well, in this economy, Taylor and Travis will certainly have to spend because of the security and just the potential of building out an incredible space for 1,000 guests. That's what's speculated right now.
The average guest count is actually far below that. It's 117. And typically, couples can save. What we recommend is that they look for the items on their list of priorities that are essential, like what are the must-haves versus the nice-to-haves?
CORNISH: So, TMZ is reporting that there's a big build-out going on for this alleged wedding. This is Harvey Levin. I want you to take a listen.
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HARVEY LEVIN, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, TMZ: It seems like the wedding is going to be smaller, but this party is just a gigantic spectacle.
They've got trees, and they've got a castle that they're putting up. So, they're going to try to transform Madison Square Garden into a wonderland.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: And then I went and looked it up, and I forgot that Sly Stone actually had his wedding at MSG way back when. Here he is explaining how he made that happen.
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GERALDO RIVERA, FORMER HOST, "GOOD MORNING AMERICA": How in the world did you -- did you plan a wedding in Madison Square Garden?
SLY STONE, MUSICIAN: Yes, it's fun. And so, we just kind of enjoyed it and shared it with a lot of friends. Sometimes people are not aware of the friends that they really have. I felt like we had 23,000 friends in Madison Square Garden.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Now, other than hoping she wears that, can you talk about, like, the dress and the idea of the dress in this day and age? Because everything, I feel like, is very multi-stage in weddings now. Like, there's a reception dress and a ceremony dress. And I've heard that she loves Vivienne Westwood.
What are you hearing?
LEE: So, we've heard multiple names, including Vivienne, of course. Taylor, of course, has had her favorite designers throughout the years. It will be personalized.
And we keep hearing this word in weddings, where couples are turning to something that speaks to them, including the attire.
In Taylor's case, some of the names that we're hearing thus far include Oscar de la Renta, Ralph Lauren, Nicole + Felicia. There are some typical contenders out there that we would suspect.
However, knowing Taylor, it wouldn't surprise us if she found an under-the-radar designer to perhaps wear to her after-party, or just a dress swap in general. So, we won't know until we see it.
CORNISH: OK. Esther Lee, thank you so much for the detail. And good luck this weekend for covering what is sure to be your Super Bowl.
LEE: Thank you. It is our Super Bowl at "The Knot," and we are thrilled.
CORNISH: OK, straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING. Let's say you have Medicare. Some people can now get a GLP-1. So, who qualifies? How will the program work? We're going to answer your questions next.
Plus, there is dangerous heat spreading across the country this holiday weekend, bringing some of the hottest temperatures in decades.
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