
Sports cards buy & sell , MLB, NHL, NBA, NFL, UFC and Boxing. #LetsGoPens https://teapaw.org/t.co/1YYTVNP8LF #BlueJays50
Brampton, Ontario π¨π¦
Joined June 2012
- Tweets89.3K
- Following766
- Followers1.1K
- Likes136K
Replying to @RightWingCope
This is what living chronically online does to your brain. It's fascinating when they bring it out into the real world in public and how regular people react to them.
David Cole π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦π₯π₯π₯π₯ retweeted
The story keeps getting crazier. To recap everything that has been reported so far:
- The US intelligence community discovered that Jensen Huang, the CEO of the largest company in the world, was sleeping with Alice Huang, a Chinese spy and an executive at Megaspeed. (FT)
- Multiple independent investigations have concluded that Megaspeed is likely a Chinese cutout, which helps Chinese companies access AI chips or circumvent export controls. (NYT and Bloomberg)
- The US intelligence community also concluded that Alice Huangβs goal was to convince Jensen to lobby the U.S. government to loosen export controls on advanced AI chips. (NYT)
- The intelligence community relayed this information to βa small group of top US government officialsβ earlier this year. (FT)
- Over the last year, Jensen Huang has repeatedly lobbied the U.S. government to loosen export controls on advanced chips. @BISgov has done so, not only by permitting the export of H200 chips to China, but also not enforcing export controls that would have required a license for exports of the most advanced Blackwell chips to Megaspeed and Southeast Asia.
- Although @CommerceGov leadership was presumably briefed on this information by the U.S. intelligence community, @BISgov has taken no actions to tighten controls on Megaspeed or Southeast Asia.
- Megaspeed remains a preferred cloud partner of Nvidia, and continues to receive Nvidia Blackwell chips despite employing a Chinese spy who reportedly is romantically engaged with the CEO of Nvidia.
- Tens of billions of dollars worth of AI chips have been exported to Southeast Asia this year alone, and Malaysia and Singapore are now two of the four largest importers of AI chips in the world.
What is going on here??? We need answers. The question of who gets the most advanced AI chips in the world is literally the defining strategic question of our time. And not only does it seem like the MSS may be directly influencing the debate on export controls in the United States, but also @CommerceGov is refusing to listen to the warnings of the IC on this issue. What is a POSSIBLE good explanation for why Megaspeed is still receiving chips? Why is there not a license requirement for AI chip shipments to all of Southeast Asia? This is beyond strange at this point.
The fallout from this story will be massive. Obviously, the motivations underpinning Nvidiaβs policy views opposing export controls must now all be questioned. But also, how did @BISgov sit on this information and has still taken no actions? We need answers.
US intelligence agencies believe @Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had romantic relationship with alleged Chinese spy
as.ft.com/r/97c2f9f7-ad2e-44β¦
David Cole π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦π₯π₯π₯π₯ retweeted
Just to recap: the tech industry is pushing AI acceleration on us on the basis that allowing China to surpass us would be an existential threat to the US, while also pushing to allow more tech transfer to China from a company whose CEO has been sleeping with a Chinese spy.
David Cole π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦π₯π₯π₯π₯ retweeted
31/ In fact, almost none of Trump's $3B in gains from the fall of 2024 to the fall of 2025 came from stock.
In the fall of 2024, we estimated that the president's liquid assets totaled about $415M. After analyzing his financial disclosure, we pegged about 10% of that in stock.
David Cole π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦π₯π₯π₯π₯ retweeted
30/ Let's look at every way Trump tried to answer why his net worth went up $3B.
"Well, so did everyone's," was his first response.
"My net worth did not go up by $3 billion," responds Ross Douthat.
"Well, you should have had stock."
teapaw.org/60Minutes/status/21194β¦
David Cole π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦π₯π₯π₯π₯ retweeted
29/ These are the main reasons why Trump's net worth increased by $3 billion from the fall of 2024 to the fall of 2025, in rounded numbers:
-$1B+ of crypto earnings
-$1B of crypto tokens created out of thin air
-$400M expansion of branding business
-$500M fine wiped out
David Cole π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦π₯π₯π₯π₯ retweeted
28/ In August 2025, an appeals court agreed that Donald Trump had committed fraud. But, in an unusual twist, the court simultaneously threw out the entire penalty given to Trump. With the obligation to pay gone, his net worth instantly shot up by about a half-billion dollars.
David Cole π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦π₯π₯π₯π₯ retweeted
27/ Another big chunk of that $3 billion jump that "60 Minutes" comes from something that happened in court.
The New York attorney general had sued Trump for lying about his net worth for years. In February 2024, a judge ruled that Trump had to pay $454M. Trump appealed.
David Cole π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦π₯π₯π₯π₯ retweeted
26/ In the fall of 2024, when we knew Trump's licensing business was growing but not how dramatically, we estimated it was worth about $100 million. One year later, when size of the expansion became clear, that number jumped to $500 million. forbes.com/sites/danalexandeβ¦
David Cole π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦π₯π₯π₯π₯ retweeted
25/ Trump's overseas licensing empire exploded. Here's the trajectory of Trump's annual licensing income, according to our estimates.
-2023: $6 million
-2024: $46 million
-2025: $61 million
That's just the income. The value of the licensing business went up far more.
David Cole π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦π₯π₯π₯π₯ retweeted
24/ As Trump got closer to the presidency in 2024, Ziad El Chaar's new firm, Dar Al Arkan, went on a deal rampage, striking agreements all over the Middle East.
There was a pattern with these deals. They often took place in master developments tied to Gulf state rulers.
David Cole π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦π₯π₯π₯π₯ retweeted
23/ The dealmaker on the other side of the table from Trump was a guy named Ziad El Chaar. Years ago, he worked for a Dubai-based billionaire named Hussain Sajwani, who once partnered with Trump. When El Chaar moved to a Saudi developer, he maintained his Trump connection.
David Cole π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦π₯π₯π₯π₯ retweeted
22/ But Trump does not just go away. In 2022, *one day* before Trump announced his 2024 presidential campaign, he finalized a new licensing deal to put his name on a hotel-and-golf project in Oman.
forbes.com/sites/danalexandeβ¦
David Cole π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦π₯π₯π₯π₯ retweeted
21/ It's not all crypto, though. Another big factor: Trump's overseas licensing deals.
January 6th once looked ruinous for the Trump brand. βHe has done permanent damage to the Trump name and image,β real-estate analyst Kevin Brown told me after the riot on the Capitol.
David Cole π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦π₯π₯π₯π₯ retweeted
20/ There's more. When Trump created his crypto ventures, he hung onto a lot of tokens for himself.
Those holdings unlock over time, and we discount them in our numbers. Even with the discounts, we estimated they were worth about $1B by the fall of 2025, up from ~$0 in a year.
David Cole π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦π₯π₯π₯π₯ retweeted
19/ All this dealmaking leads to staggering amounts of cash by the end of 2025.
-World Liberty kicks of $789M of earnings
-The memecoin supplies another $636M
Total: $1,425,000,000 of liquidity from those two ventures in one year.
David Cole π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦π₯π₯π₯π₯ retweeted
18/ Then comes another wild deal.
A tiny, publicly traded healthcare company says it's going to convert into a stockpile of World Liberty tokens and purchase about $700M of them.
Remember, Trump still hasn't divested, so he keeps getting his cut, even though he's president.
David Cole π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦π₯π₯π₯π₯ retweeted
17/ The WSJ later answers the big questions--who bought the stake and for how much. Opening line: "Lieutenants to an Abu Dhabi royal secretly signed a deal with the Trump family to purchase a 49% stake in their fledgling cryptocurrency venture for" $500M. wsj.com/politics/policy/spy-β¦
David Cole π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦π₯π₯π₯π₯ retweeted
16/ That story and a follow-up don't generate a ton of attention at the time, but there is one person who may have noticed: the president.
Days later, he goes on this Truth Social tangent.
David Cole π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦π₯π₯π₯π₯ retweeted
15/ As it's happening, everything is murky, in part because -- as Forbes reports first -- Trump strikes a secretive deal to sell a stake in one of his crypto ventures.
forbes.com/sites/danalexandeβ¦
David Cole π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦ π¨π¦π₯π₯π₯π₯ retweeted
14/ Once Trump's in office, the bonanza continues, as money pours in, especially from the UAE.
-Firm that had just relocated there purchases $25M of tokens
-Abu Dhabi-tied nonprofit buys $100M
Trump, who never divested World Liberty, gets a cut.
forbes.com/sites/danalexandeβ¦





