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Trump personally received $2 million from a South Korean company facing a U.S. trade investigation

A financial disclosure that President Trump filed in late June 2026, reported by the New York Times on July 14, showed he was personally paid $2 million by South Korea's Base Group, an aluminum company whose affiliate Korea Aluminum was found by the U.S. Commerce Department in 2023 to have skirted trade duties on Chinese-made aluminum. The payment was listed as a nonrefundable development fee tied to a letter of intent, which the Trump Organization said related to an unannounced golf project. The arrangement gave the president a direct personal financial tie to a foreign business subject to his own administration's trade enforcement.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Washington, D.C.

Abuses documented

Actors

A financial disclosure that President Trump filed in late June 2026 showed that he was personally paid $2 million by Base Group, a South Korean aluminum company. The payment, reported by the New York Times on July 14, 2026, was listed on the disclosure as a nonrefundable development fee connected to a letter of intent; the Trump Organization said it related to an unannounced golf-course project. The company's chief legal officer, Alan Garten, said that "any suggestion that this transaction was driven by anything other than legitimate business considerations is pure fiction."

Base Group holds a major stake in Korea Aluminum, which the U.S. Commerce Department found in 2023 had skirted trade duties on Chinese-made aluminum; the company subsequently cut its U.S. exports. Because the president holds authority over federal trade enforcement, the payment created a direct personal financial tie between Trump and a foreign business whose affiliate remained subject to U.S. trade action. The New York Times reported that it had not found evidence that Trump or his family advocated for Base Group or Korea Aluminum with government officials.

The disclosure is one of roughly 30 foreign business ventures through which Trump has maintained personal financial ties with overseas counterparts while in office. Federal ethics rules require presidents to disclose such interests precisely so the public can weigh whether official decisions might be shaped by private financial entanglements.

Why we recorded this

Public office is a public trust, and the federal financial-disclosure system exists so the public can see whether a president's private money is entangled with parties his government regulates. A sitting president personally received a $2 million payment from a foreign company whose affiliate faces a U.S. trade investigation, while he holds authority over federal trade enforcement. Recording when a president generates private revenue from entities with matters before his own administration documents the conflicts of interest that public office is meant to prevent.

Sources

  1. Trump Paid $2 Million by South Korean Company Facing Trade Investigation — New York Times investigative accessed July 14, 2026
  2. Foreign Company at Center of Trade Dispute Paid Trump Millions — The New Republic investigative accessed July 14, 2026
  3. Shadowy $2 million payment to Trump raises questions as 'cryptic explanation' falls short — Raw Story secondary accessed July 14, 2026

See also