By Saul Loeb with Danny Kemp in WashingtonUS President Donald Trump has defended earning $1.2 billion from his family's cryptocurrency activities last year, saying "everybody's profiting" from his time in power.Taking his maiden flight aboard a new Air Force One plane gifted by Qatar, Trump rejected criticisms that he was using his presidency to enrich himself."You know why I'm profiting, because the stock market's going up, everybody's profiting," Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews near Washington.The 80-year-old Republican said his earnings were placed in blind trusts to ensure that he could not influence government policy to boost his fortune."I don't get involved in my personal (finances), we have funds that run my money," Trump said. "I've made a lot of money before I became president, and they invest my money, and I don't talk to them."Trump also insisted that his wealth was due to his prior career, despite the fact that the earnings were related to crypto ventures launched during his first year back in the White House."I don't know if I've had a better career in politics or business, but I had a great career in business, and you know, you saw the cash, and you report the different things," he said."So we're all profiting. I'm profiting because I have a lot of money and a lot of cash."According to financial disclosures released by the US Office of Government Ethics on Tuesday, Trump received nearly $550 million from his ties to the start-up World Liberty Financial (WLF) in 2025.WLF was co-founded in September 2024 by Trump's sons and the son of Trump's Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff.Trump's sons Donald Jr and Eric were flying with their father on Wednesday (local time) aboard the new Air Force One jet, whose donation by Qatar has also raised ethical questions.The 927-page filings also mention $635m in royalties received under a licensing agreement related to the $TRUMP cryptocurrency, launched just hours before the president's inauguration in January 2025.Trump also made millions from a host of branded merchandising sales, including of bumper stickers and bibles, the financial disclosure showed.The president's crypto activities are the main reason for the near tripling of his personal fortune, which rose from $2.3b to $6.5b between 2024 and 2026, according to Forbes.While in power, Trump has enacted measures to deregulate the sector, causing asset prices to soar.The White House said in a statement on Tuesday that Trump had "proudly made the United States the crypto capital of the world"."Neither the President nor his family has ever engaged - or will ever engage - in conflicts of interest," Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement to AFP.The White House has aggressively pushed back against claims of conflicts of interest ever since Trump returned to power."This is a president who has actually lost money for being president of the United States," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in May 2025."I think it's frankly ridiculous that anyone in this room would even suggest that President Trump is doing anything for his own benefit."- AFP