President Trump’s hosting of a private dinner for top investors in his meme coin could be seen as a win for the acceptance of cryptocurrency, but has raised ethical questions about his role in it.
The president was dining Thursday night at his Trump National Golf Club in Virginia with the top 220 holders of $TRUMP, his cryptocurrency token launched in January. The top 25 holders had even closer access to the president with a VIP reception before dinner and a special VIP tour, according to the meme coin’s website that labeled the event as “the most exclusive invitation in the world.”
The top four holders are getting $100,000 crypto-themed and Trump-branded watches.
A disclaimer on the website says the tour is arranged by Fight Fight Fight LLC, one of the entities that control the meme coin along with another entity owned by the Trump Organization, and that Mr. Trump is appearing at the dinner “as a guest and not soliciting any funds for it.”
The Trump Organization is run by his two elder sons Eric and Don Jr. while Mr. Trump is president.
It’s estimated that the investors spent around $148 million on the $TRUMP coin to get themselves a seat at the gala.
The top holder currently is Justin Sun, a crypto billionaire and businessman from China. On X, he wrote that he was “honored to support @POTUS and grateful for the invitation from @GetTrumpMemes to attend President Trump’s Gala Dinner as his TOP fan!”
“As the top holder of $TRUMP, I’m excited to connect with everyone, talk crypto, and discuss the future of our industry,” he wrote.
The event illustrates Mr. Trump’s switch regarding cryptocurrency. In the past he’s said it is “not money” and the value is “based on thin air.”
He told Fox Business Network in 2021 that bitcoin, the top cryptocurrency in the world, “seems like a scam.”
But last week, the president told reporters that he’s “a big crypto fan.”
“I’ve been that from the beginning, right from the campaign,” he said.
He signed an executive order in January establishing regulatory clarity for digital financial technology to “secure America’s position as the world’s leader in the digital asset economy.”
In March, Mr. Trump signed another order establishing a bitcoin reserve and a U.S. digital asset stockpile. He named David Sacks as the White House “crypto czar” and held the first-ever crypto summit at the White House.
When it was launched, his meme coin saw an initial spike in value but dropped shortly after. The price shot up again after the dinner contest was announced. First lady Melania Trump has her own meme coin too, $MELANIA.
The Trump family also has World Liberty Financial, launched last year, in which they control about a 60% equity stake.
But critics say Mr. Trump’s newfound love of crypto raises questions about whether he is allowing people, especially foreigners, to buy access to the president.
“With his cryptocurrency schemes, Trump is putting a for sale sign in front of the White House,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Democrat, wrote on social media earlier this month.
The White House has argued that the president is not benefiting from this dinner.
“The President is working to secure GOOD deals for the American people, not for himself,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement.
Advocacy group State Democracy Defenders Fund released a report last month detailing the alleged conflicts of interest between Mr. Trump and crypto.
“The regulation of digital assets is in its nascency, but rather than divest his crypto assets to avoid any possible conflict of interest, President Trump seems to have positioned himself to maximize profiting from them by adopting a less aggressive regulatory and enforcement program than his predecessor,” the report said.
Sen. Chris Murphy, Connecticut Democrat, called for the release of the attendees’ names.
“The top buyers of Trump’s meme coin – mostly foreign oligarchs likely – get their secret meeting with him tomorrow night,” he wrote on social media Wednesday. “It’s fundamentally corrupt – a way to buy access to the President.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that the president is attending the dinner “in his personal time, it’s not a White House dinner,” but wouldn’t commit to the White House releasing a list of the attendees.
“The president is abiding by all conflict of interest laws that are applicable to the president. And I think everybody, the American public, believes it’s absurd for anyone to insinuate that this president is profiting off of this presidency,” she said.
— This article is based in part on wire service reports.
