Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is not holding back. On Monday, the Republican took to X to accuse President Donald Trump of running the White House like a personal enrichment scheme, drawing direct comparisons to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Here's another thing Trump learned from Putin during his first term," Christie wrote. "Trump and his family believe they have license to take whatever they can take." He called it "Putin-esque type of corruption and self-enrichment."
Christie also shared a clip from an ABC News appearance where he expanded on the criticism. He argued that Trump and his family seem to think winning the 2024 election gave them a green light to cash in while in office. While many federal ethics laws don't apply to the president, Christie noted, constitutional concerns still linger.
The timing is no coincidence. Trump is under renewed fire over a Boeing Co. (BA) 747 that Qatar gave him for presidential use. Trump took the plane for a spin during a trip to North Dakota, calling it "appropriate for a President" and boasting that there had "never been a plane like this." But Christie pushed back on Trump's claim that the jet wouldn't cost taxpayers a dime, noting it would still need hundreds of millions of dollars in upgrades to meet Air Force One standards.
Then there's the money. Trump's latest financial disclosure showed more than $1 billion in income tied to cryptocurrency ventures in 2025. That includes hundreds of millions from token sales linked to World Liberty Financial, equity sales in its holding company, and royalties from the Official Trump memecoin. When CNBC asked about it, Trump shrugged it off: "There's nothing illegal, there's nothing wrong with it." He added that he was into crypto before returning to office and dismissed conflict-of-interest concerns.
Christie's broadside is the latest in a long line of GOP critics taking aim at Trump's post-election behavior. Whether it sticks is another question—but the combination of a foreign gift jet and a billion-dollar crypto portfolio makes for a potent narrative.
