The true cost of Donald Trump’s $2.2 billion year

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Good morning. I sat in Donald Trump’s office years ago, watching him cover a table with paper after paper on various buildings bearing his name. Trump wanted to prove that he was a billionaire, contrary to the allegations of writer Tim O’Brien, whom he was suing for suggesting otherwise. (The suit was ultimately dismissed.) He pointed to the stack of papers, the number of products bearing his name, the pink Italian marble in the lobby, the finer details of his office. He even showed me his watch. Thousands paid to hear him speak at The Learning Annex, he told me, because they want to be a billionaire like Donald Trump. Being rich wasn’t just part of his brand. It was his brand. This was a leader who largely measured success by a single metric. 

Now, nobody can dispute that Trump is rich. He made more money last year as president than he ever did in a year as CEO. We don’t know how much tax he will pay on the $2.2 billion in earnings, as he is the first U.S. president to refuse to release his tax returns and secured an unprecedented tax immunity deal in exchange for dropping a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS. Trump’s sons run the business, control the trust containing his assets, and have launched lucrative new ventures using his name. (His sons and the White House have repeatedly stated there is no conflict of interest.) Trump’s latest 927-page disclosure gives fascinating insights into how the president is getting rich, through crypto ventures and active stock trading, as well as a $77,808 pension from the Screen Actors Guild and a $250,000 sculpture from a longtime CEO supporter.

But everything has a cost. Take the Qatari-gifted Air Force One, which took its inaugural flight yesterday. Trump took the $400 million jet as a gift to taxpayers and then spent at least that much in taxpayer dollars to make it “the world’s most luxurious plane.” Although the gift was deemed legal, multiple polls show voters felt it raised ethical concerns and several prominent Republicans in Congress spoke out against it. 

The president’s personal gains cause even more concern. Trump’s investment managers bought and sold company stocks an average of 58 times a day in the first quarter. Some say that’s normal for high-volume, tax-optimized trading. Others are suspicious. The recent disclosure showed 327 individual stock purchases a day before Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs, for example, which caused a market rally that he took credit for.

I meet plenty of CEOs who like the Trump administration’s approach to technology, innovation, regulation, taxation, and the overall ethos of making America great. Behind closed doors, though, many say they don’t trust him. Conservative podcaster Megyn Kelly called the family “grifty” in a Sky News interview. Trust in the federal government is at a two-decade low, and that’s according to a Fox News poll. The Pew Research Center did a 36-country survey that found the rest of the world has negative views of Trump and doesn’t think America is a reliable partner. 

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, the Lester Crown Professor of Leadership Practice at the Yale School of Management and founder of the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute, says the president’s willingness to get rich on the job is undermining his credibility and popularity with his base. The irony is that Trump doesn’t seem to get much joy from his money. “He doesn’t cruise on his yacht. Other than the golf course, there’s no luxury in that man’s life,” says Sonnenfeld. “What he cares about is losing pride and being ridiculed.” For someone who seems to equate being rich with getting respect, money can feel like a familiar friend. As he faces pushback—from Republican colleagues voting to limit executive authority to consumer boycotts—the president isn’t recalibrating but rather doubling down on what he knows. As he told reporters yesterday, “I’m profiting. We’re all profiting. Thank you President Trump!” 

A side note: In honor of America’s 250th birthday, we will not publish tomorrow but will be back in your inboxes Monday. Have a happy and safe July Fourth!

Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com