The Rest of the World Report
The Rest of the World Podcast
The Rest of the World Report | Wednesday, July 1, 2026 — Morning Edition
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The Rest of the World Report | Wednesday, July 1, 2026 — Morning Edition

The View From Everywhere Else

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927 PAGES

The president of the United States earned more than $1.4 billion from cryptocurrency ventures in 2025, the first year of his second term. That figure comes from his annual financial disclosure, released Tuesday by the Office of Government Ethics. The filing is 927 pages long. Barack Obama’s final disclosure was eight pages. Joe Biden’s was 11. JD Vance’s is 17.

The largest components: $635 million from a licensing agreement with a cryptocurrency group specializing in meme coins bearing Trump’s name, $515 million from the sale of tokens released by World Liberty Financial — a crypto venture co-founded by members of his family — and $65 million from equity sales tied to the same company. Additional crypto holdings, including bitcoin, ether, and staking rewards, account for the remainder of the $1.4 billion total. Trump signed crypto-friendly executive orders in his first week in office. He created a strategic Bitcoin reserve. He made cryptocurrency deregulation a centerpiece of his presidency. By the end of 2025, those policies had returned $1.4 billion to the man who signed them.

The filing also documents a pattern of stock purchases that preceded favorable government decisions. The disclosure shows Trump’s investment accounts bought between $500,000 and $1 million in Nvidia stock a week before the Commerce Department officially approved the sale of Nvidia chips to China. It shows purchases and sales of GEO Group stock — the private prison company that is one of ICE’s largest contractors — during the same period ICE was dramatically expanding its operations under his administration. It follows last week’s disclosure that Trump purchased up to $5 million in Axon Enterprise stock, the manufacturer of Taser weapons, two weeks before ICE solicited a $220 million Taser contract.

The Trump Organization maintains that its assets are managed by third-party financial institutions through automated technology, and that neither Trump, his family, nor the Trump Organization plays any role in investment decisions. The disclosure itself repeats this position.

The filing also discloses more than $370,000 in gifts, including ten FIFA World Cup tickets from FIFA President Gianni Infantino, ten Super Bowl LIX tickets from New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson, UFC event tickets from Dana White, and a $250,000 statue gifted by Sticker Mule CEO Anthony Constantino depicting Trump with his fist raised after the Butler assassination attempt. Melania Trump disclosed $10.7 million from documentary licensing and $6 million from NFT and collectibles licensing.

Between $220 million and $750 million in securities trades in the first three months of 2026 alone, including purchases and sales of Microsoft, Meta, Nvidia, Apple, and Goldman Sachs.

Douglas Brinkley, a history professor at Rice University, told NBC News, “What strikes me as remarkable is how many pies Trump has his fingers in. There is no precedent to compare it with. No president in the 20th or 21st century has had something that’s vaguely comparable.”

🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: The president earned $1.4 billion from crypto in 2025. He bought Nvidia stock a week before approving Nvidia’s chip sales to China. He holds stock in GEO Group, ICE’s largest prison contractor. He bought Axon stock weeks before ICE solicited a Taser contract. His organization says these decisions are automated and independent of him. The disclosure is 927 pages. Obama’s was eight.

Sources: NBC News (US — $1.4 billion crypto confirmed, $635 million meme coin licensing confirmed, WLF $515 million/$65 million confirmed, Brinkley quote confirmed, GEO Group confirmed, $80 million settlements confirmed, Melania Trump figures confirmed, June 30); CNBC (US — $580 million+ crypto-related income confirmed, golf/club $290 million confirmed, gifts $370,000 confirmed, Infantino FIFA tickets confirmed, Benson Super Bowl tickets confirmed, Constantino statue $250,000 confirmed, June 30); Democracy Now (US — $220-750 million securities trades Q1 2026 confirmed, Nvidia stock/chip approval timing confirmed, Microsoft/Meta/Nvidia/Apple/Goldman Sachs confirmed, June 30); The Block (US — WLF $65.6 million equity confirmed, $236.25 million token proceeds confirmed, Coinbase investment confirmed, June 30); UPI (US — 927-page filing confirmed, $TRUMP memecoin described, disclosure scope confirmed, June 30)


RUSSIA

Ukraine’s long-range strike campaign against Russian oil infrastructure has produced something that years of battlefield reporting did not: lines at Russian gas stations, fistfights between drivers, and a public admission from Vladimir Putin that the war is affecting daily life inside Russia.

Putin acknowledged Sunday at the United Russia party congress that Ukrainian strikes on refineries and fuel depots were creating “problems” for Russian motorists and businesses. “Yes, we see the problems, we are aware of them and are responding to them,” he said. It was a notable departure from the Kremlin’s practice of minimizing the impact of Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory for domestic audiences, a practice it had maintained for more than four years.

Around 22 Russian regions have introduced official restrictions on gasoline sales. Farmers are struggling to secure diesel during the peak summer agricultural season. The Kremlin has banned exports of gasoline and aviation fuel and ordered refineries to maximize domestic production. Moscow is considering allowing the temporary production and import of lower-quality fuel. Fuel shortages have spread to Crimea, Siberia, southern Russia, and Moscow itself.

Videos show fistfights and hours-long queues at filling stations across multiple regions. In Serov, a man shouted obscenities at several women before punching one of them at a fuel queue. In Ryazan, a fight broke out near a forecourt. In Irkutsk, a man repeatedly hit another motorist through an open car window. One woman, identified as Tanya, 29, told east2west news she waited 13 hours in Siberia for half a tank of fuel. “He should stop this senseless conflict and let us live normally,” she said.

The crisis has a second-order effect beyond Russia’s borders. Fuel shortages are disrupting cargo transport to China, with Russian trucking companies reporting longer waits at gas stations, reduced daily driving distances, and freight cost increases of at least 10% beginning today, July 1.

Ukraine has been systematically targeting Russian oil refining and fuel storage infrastructure throughout 2026, using long-range drones to strike facilities hundreds of kilometers inside Russian territory. The pace accelerated significantly this year following the delivery of longer-range Western-supplied systems. Russia’s refinery capacity has been reduced, with multiple facilities either shut down for repairs or operating at diminished output.

🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Vladimir Putin publicly admitted that Ukraine is winning the long-range war on Russian energy infrastructure. Gas station fights and 13-hour waits for fuel are now visible inside Russia. The same long-range strike capability Ukraine developed with Western weapons is now creating domestic pressure on a government that spent four years telling its citizens the war had no effect at home. That has changed.

Sources: NBC News (US — Putin acknowledgment confirmed, United Russia congress speech confirmed, task force confirmed, Zelenskyy quote confirmed, June 29); HNGN (US — Putin June 28 government meeting quote confirmed, 22 regions restrictions confirmed, gasoline export ban confirmed, June 30); Fox News Digital / east2west (US — Tanya 13-hour wait quote confirmed, Serov/Ryazan/Irkutsk incidents confirmed, Maxim Katz quote confirmed, June 30); Kyiv Post (Ukraine — China trucking disruption confirmed, 10% freight increases July 1 confirmed, farmer fuel struggles confirmed, June 30); OilPrice.com (US — Kommersant lower-quality fuel draft confirmed, Kapotnya refinery strike June 18 confirmed, June 29)


brown wooden signage on brown sand during daytime
Photo by Josh Rinard on Unsplash

COLORADO

The night before last, a 29-year-old democratic socialist named Melat Kiros defeated Diana DeGette, a 15-term Democratic incumbent who has represented Denver in Congress since 1997. The Associated Press called the race just after 10 p.m.

DeGette has been in Congress for nearly 30 years. She served as an impeachment manager. She ran on her record of fighting Trump. She lost to a first-time candidate who called for abolishing ICE, passing universal healthcare, rejecting corporate PACs, and opposing the pro-Israel lobby.

The Colorado results, taken alongside New York’s results from a week earlier, confirm a pattern. Democratic socialists and progressive insurgents are winning safe blue seats. Establishment figures are surviving in competitive ones. Senator John Hickenlooper defeated his progressive challenger Julie Gonzales and will advance to the general election. Attorney General Phil Weiser defeated Senator Michael Bennet in the gubernatorial primary, a win for the candidate who ran harder against Trump. State Representative Manny Rutinel won the competitive 8th District primary, the swing seat that could determine House control in November, defeating Shannon Bird. He now faces Republican incumbent Gabe Evans in a district Trump carried by less than two points in 2024.

In swing districts, pragmatic candidates who run against Trump are surviving. In safe blue seats, progressive voters are making their position clear: they want candidates who actually believe what they believe. Establishment Democrats in safe seats are being told, in back-to-back primaries this month, that their voters have moved on.

🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: A 29-year-old democratic socialist just ended a 15-term Democratic incumbent’s career in Denver. The DSA wave that started in New York last week has now reached Colorado. In competitive swing districts, pragmatic candidates are surviving. In safe blue seats, the left is winning. The Democratic Party is deciding what it is, four months before the midterms.

Sources: CPR News (US — Kiros confirmed, DeGette 15-term confirmed, AP call confirmed, Kiros platform confirmed, June 30); Colorado Politics (US — “stunning blow” confirmed, Kiros 29 years old confirmed, leftist victories pattern confirmed, June 30); NBC News (US — Hickenlooper win confirmed, Weiser/Bennet result confirmed, Rutinel/Bird confirmed, Evans district Trump margin confirmed, June 30); KDVR / Fox 31 (US — 8th District swing confirmed, Evans incumbent confirmed, June 30)


WAR DAY 123 | NUMBERS AT PUBLICATION
🇮🇷 Iran: 3,468 killed, 26,500+ injured (Iran Ministry of Health, via Al Jazeera live tracker, last updated June 10)
🇱🇧 Lebanon: 4,230 killed, 12,179 injured (Lebanon Ministry of Public Health, updated June 25)
🇮🇱 Israel: 35+ killed (Israeli news source via Time, June 21 — tracker frozen June 10)
🌍 Gulf states/Iraq: 131 killed — Iraq 118, Kuwait 7, Bahrain 3, Oman 3 (Al Jazeera live tracker, last updated June 10)
🇺🇸 US military: 13 killed, 381 injured (Al Jazeera live tracker, last updated June 10)
🛢️ Brent crude: $71.95/barrel (OilPrice.com — OPEC+ July production increase takes effect today; Brent down 23% for the quarter, worst quarter since 2020)
⛽ US national gas average: $3.85/gallon (AAA)

Sourcing note: All war casualty figures sourced to the Al Jazeera live tracker, last updated June 10, 2026, except Lebanon. Lebanon updated to 4,230 killed, 12,179 injured per Lebanon Ministry of Public Health, confirmed June 25. All figures are floor estimates. Methodology differs between sources; figures are not directly comparable.


“Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1789

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