Trump’s meme coin dinner stirs controversy at pivotal moment for crypto world
President Trump hosted an exclusive dinner Thursday night for the 220 biggest buyers of his $TRUMP (TRUMP-OFFICIAL-USD) meme coin, an event that stirred controversy in the nation’s capital during a pivotal moment for the crypto world.
“The past administration made your lives miserable,” Mr. Trump told the dinner guests, according to account from the New York Times.
The Biden administration “persecuted crypto innovators, and we’re bringing them back into the USA where they belong,” he added, according to another account from the Wall Street Journal.
Demonstrators shout outside Trump National Golf Course in Sterling, Va., as President Trump attended a private dinner at his club for the top 220 buyers of his memecoin $TRUMP. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images) ·JIM WATSON via Getty Images
The highly publicized event at his private Virginia golf club was the source of widespread unease among Democrats, who highlighted their conflict of interest concerns, and even some GOP lawmakers.
“This is my president that we’re talking about, but I am willing to say that this gives me pause,” Wyoming Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis said of the dinner in a NBC interview earlier this month.
“There is a big ‘For Sale’ sign on the White House lawn,” Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said at a press conference Thursday. “US policy for sale.”
Invitees to the gala won their invitations by participating in a form of auction that identified the 220 with the largest holdings of Trump’s coin, based on their average holdings between April 23 and May 12.
President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) ·ASSOCIATED PRESS
These investors spent an estimated $148 million on the $TRUMP coin to secure their seats at the dinner, with the 25 largest spending over $111 million, according to an analysis from crypto firm Inca Digital.
An even more exclusive set of the 25 biggest holders were promised a “special tour” and “private VIP reception with the President,” according to the coin’s website, which is owned by Fight Fight Fight LLC.
That Delaware-registered organization and another Trump Organization affiliate called CIC Digital LLC own a combined 80% of the meme coin’s tokens. A share of revenue earned from the coin’s trading volume also goes to these Trump family affiliates.
Between January and the end of April, more than $320 million in trading fees have flowed to wallets tied to the token’s creator, according to an analysis from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. That includes some $1.3 million between the dinner announcement and May 1.
The attendees ranged from former NBA player Lamar Odom to crypto billionaire Justin Sun, who said he won first place in the dinner competition.
“It’s really nice to be here today with, like, everyone in crypto,” Sun in a video posted on X.
Founder of the blockchain network Tron, the 34-year-old Sun already has at least one link to the president’s affairs. He is known as the biggest backer of World Liberty Financial, a crypto business run by CEO Zach Witkoff, son of Steve Witkoff, the president’s envoy to the Middle East.
Sun invested $75 million into World Liberty and helped bootstrap the project’s initial token launch by buying $30 million worth of the token (WLF). He’s since appeared on stage at two separate conferences with World Liberty executives.
“Justin, you’ve been instrumental in our success, so thank you,” Witkoff told Sun while onstage at a Dubai conference earlier this month that also included the president’s son Eric Trump.
The SEC previously sued Sun and his crypto companies for alleged fraud in 2023, but the case was paused in February.
Democrat lawmakers — including Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) — pointed to the dinner and Trump’s other crypto ties as examples of what they view to be the president’s corruption.
“Donald Trump’s dinner is an orgy of corruption,” Warren said Thursday. “That’s what this is all about. We are here today to talk about exactly one topic: corruption, corruption in its ugliest form.”
The White House has consistently maintained that there are no conflicts of interest, noting that Trump’s assets are managed in a trust overseen by his children and he has no role in operations, and his press secretary repeated that point Thursday.
“I have also stated previously from this podium that the president is abiding by all conflict of interest laws that are applicable to the president, and I think everybody, the American public believe it’s absurd for anyone to insinuate that this president is profiting off of this,” Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
The Trump family has gone even deeper into crypto since the 2024 election. The president and first lady Melania Trump each have official meme coins and his namesake, Trump Media (DJT), also offers crypto ETFs through its financial services brand Truth.Fi.
The president’s son Eric is also co-founder of a bitcoin mining firm set to go public through an all-stock merger that’s expected to close as early as the third quarter.
World Liberty is also launching a stablecoin at a time when the Senate is considering legislation to regulate those digital assets. A vote on that bill could happen next week.
“Net, net, I think this administration has been great for crypto,” Galaxy Digital (GLXY) CEO Mike Novogratz told Yahoo Finance last Friday.
As long as they don’t break a law, the president and his family have a right to participate in crypto, Novogratz, an outspoken Democrat who has nonetheless been critical of the Biden administration’s handling of crypto regulation, said.
“Do I wish we didn’t have a Trump coin and Melania coin? Yeah, I do. But you know, we’re going to live with it,” Novogratz added.
David Hollerith is a senior reporter for Yahoo Finance covering banking, crypto, and other areas in finance.
