Charles Schwab Corp. ties brand to 'Trump,' after becoming 'custodian,' consultant and investment advisor to Trump Media startup

Charles Schwab Corp. is the branded force behind a new “Trump” play to become an online broker.

Trump Media and Technology Group Corp. (TMTG) announced that it is launching TruthFi, an online brokerage platform that will sell ETFs, SMAs, and cryptocurrency.

Schwab has been named as its “custodian,” investment strategist and consultant, and will reap a lucrative investment to its custody as part of the deal. 

The Truth Media "board has approved an investment of up to $250 million to be custodied by Charles Schwab,” the company writes in a release.

Putting a quarter billion dollars in cash in Schwab custody is a way “to diversify the [Truth Media’s] cash and cash-equivalent reserves of over $700 million as of December 31, 2024,” it said in the release. See: Despite lawsuits, Schwab slashes sweep yields 89% in five months, including two cuts in December -- raising risks for RIAs that don't sort cash, experts say

"The SMAs will be developed in partnership with Charles Schwab, which would also broadly advise on TMTG’s TruthFi investments and strategy, the Sarasota, Fla, social media company adds.

Jump starting rival

Schwab investors seemed to cheer the Wednesday (Jan. 29) news; shares rose today within pennies of a 52-week-high, closing up $1.54 or 1.88% at $83.60.

Trump Media has been one of Wall Street's most volatile stocks with a 52-week price swing between $11.75 and $79.38. The stock closed little changed today at $31.60, off 47 cents or 1.47%. It edged lower after hours to $31.45, down another 0.47%.

Charles Schwab & Co. itself sells SMAs and ETFs in the billions or trillions of dollars but currently does not have any in-house spot cryptocurrency capabilities. 

Schwab has not indicated in statements or filings if it has any ownership in the new venture, or whether it has any potential conflicts of interest in jump-starting a potential rival.

Nor need Schwab disclose conflicts based on what is known now, according to Ari Sonneberg, partner of the Wagner Law Group in a comment solicited pre-publication that came in after, and was added.

“I don’t think Schwab has a conflict here, at least to the extent that it won’t be using its custodial role here to the detriment of Schwab investors…and there is no reason to believe that it would,” he says.

"Sure some RIAs might be turned off, but others, and let’s not forget that Trump won the presidency by a far wider margin than any predictions, will probably be drawn to this.

“Not only does it bear Trump’s name but it also is being marketed to represent a counter to woke and anti-conservative investing trends.  Those are the very ideas and values that rallied the troops for Trump to win the presidency.  I don’t really see any downside to this as long as transparency is maintained.  I think the Trump/Schwab name association at this point in time is seen as mutually beneficial.”

Schwab Corp. declined to respond to a request for comment from RIABiz, though it responded to Bloomberg and declined to comment on past or current clients. 

Presumably, Schwab is at least signaling that TMTG is a past or current client.

Nepo baby

On the political side, President Trump named Samantha Schwab, 29, as deputy chief of staff for billionaire Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. She is Charles Schwab Chairman Chuck Schwab's granddaughter. 

Samantha, a legacy, graduated with an MBA from Stanford in 2023. Before that, she was a Stanford economics major in 2018. Her grandfather also attended, earning undergraduate and MBA degrees.

The 29-year-old's resume is relatively thin, given her new job, and mostly politically connected.  

She worked for 19 months (Jun. 2019 to Jan. 2021) in former Vice President Mike Pence's office, first as Director of Specialty Media and then as Deputy Press Secretary. 

After a summer internship with a cloud-based software management firm in New York City, she began working toward her MBA in Sept. 2021, according to her LinkedIn profile.  

She worked for a year-and-a-half after that at a Lower Manhattan “event-based” trading firm before landing at Treasury. The job pays between $169,000 and $188,000 a year and is listed as the third-ranking position on a Treasury Department organization chart.  

She reports to Chief of Staff Daniel Katz of the Manhattan Institute, who was a senior adviser at Treasury during Trump’s first term.

Julie Brinn Seigel, 36, previously held the job under President Biden. She is a Harvard Law and Penn graduate who has more than 10 years of experience, mostly in the Obama and Biden administrations after serving as a staffer in Sen. Elizabeth Warren's office.  

Deep state

Grandfather Chuck Schwab, 87, has political connections going back years, and he's been a huge donor to conservative causes and politicians, including Trump. See: Charles Schwab, a true American oligarch, shows no signs of slowing at 82, throwing his substantial fortune behind Donald Trump, hard-right politics and his continuing financial services revolution

The elder Schwab, who is estimated to be worth $10.8 billion, contributed $1 million to Trump’s 2017 inaugural fundraising committee.

Schwab and its CEO have been relatively quiet about politics since the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill riot. CEO Walt Bettinger spoke out against the attacks while Chuck Schwab declined to weigh in. See: Schwab, drawn into Capitol Riot scandal, assures advisors and clients it's ceasing political contributions, while CEO laments violence; but where's Chuck?

Following the attack, Schwab's firm said it would cease political donations and discontinued its political action committee, citing the "hyperpartisan" political climate. 

But the company's employees, nonetheless, contributed just under $1.1 million in the 2024 election cycle. Just over 90% went to Republicans, the rest to Democrats and Independents, according to OpenSecrets, which tracks spending. 

Schwab Charitable, a donor-advised fund run by his daughter, has become the principal funding conduit for conservative political causes. 

It gave about $250 million in 2021 and 2022 to Leonard Leo, according to Bloomberg, citing a tax filing. Leo, a conservative legal activist, and longtime Federalist Society vice president, oversees a web of dark money campaign contribution groups. 

Gimme' shelter

The TruthFi niche in financial services is intended for investors who fear “debanking.” Trump elevated the term to national prominence during a speech at the World Economic Forum, Jan. 23. 

He accused, without evidence, that Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase were refusing to do business with political conservatives, i.e. “debanking” them, supposedly leading to the creation of TruthFi.  

“I hope you start opening your bank to conservatives,” Trump said. “Because many conservatives complain that the banks are not allowing them to do business within the bank and that included a place called Bank of America.”

In contrast, the online brokerage is a site “through which American patriots can protect themselves” from "privacy violations committed by Big Tech and woke corporations,” according to the company. 

“Developing American First investment vehicles is another step toward our goal of creating a robust ecosystem through which American patriots can protect themselves,” says TMTG CEO, Chairman Devin Nunes, a former Congressman. 

Future products

TruthFi has given no indication if it plans to make bank loans, though it signaled there's more to come.

“The Company anticipates that TruthFi products and services, including multiple investment vehicles, will be rolled out in 2025 as new agreements are consummated, funding levels are determined, and any necessary approvals by financial regulators are secured.”

The site claims it is being used by more than 6,000 traders.  

TruthFi is not the first high-profile play by a conservative politician to rake in dollars based on politics. Vivek Ramaswamy founded Strive. See: Vivek Ramaswamy sells anti-ESG to RIAs to nab quick $1 billion of AUM, but it's all 'Kabuki theater,' analyst says, to steer proxy votes hard right -- profitably 

In November, he founded an RIA, Strive Wealth Management. Strive reported it hit $2 billion of AUM on Jan. 24.

Crypto president

Trump, who once called crypto fake money, has swiftly moved into the space and reportedly owns a crypto wallet with coins worth $14.7 million, according to crypto analysts Arkham Intelligence. 

On Sept. 16, he announced the launch of World Liberty Financial, (WLF) a decentralized finance (DeFi) crypto platform.

Sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. signed on as “advisers.” Barron Trump, 18, is also involved reportedly as the project’s “DeFi visionary.” Trump has the title “Chief Crypto Advocate,” but none have active roles in running the site — or any liability.

Trump’s long-time friend, Steve Witkoff, a real estate developer, is listed as head of “Institutional Investment,” according to CoinDesk.

Two weeks ago, President Trump launched a personal crypto coin, $Trump, that generated billions of dollars of paper gains before being undercut by the crypto launch of the first lady's coin, $Melania.

Trump has vowed to be the “crypto president.”

Correction: A previous version of this article stated Charles Schwab Corp. gave about $1.1 million in political donations in 2024. It did not. Those donations were made by Schwab employees.