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On a website promoting$TRUMP, there’s an illustration of the president — albeit a significantly slimmed down version — pointing at the viewer as a blurred-out man and woman lean toward him at a dining table decked with silverware and a bouquet of roses. To the right, in big white-and-red text reads, “Have Dinner With President Trump,” and in not-so-fine print below: “The most EXCLUSIVE INVITATION in the World.”
The dinner with President Donald Trump will take place on May 22 at his members-only golf club, reads the site, and invites the top 220 investors in his memecoin to have a seat at the table in Washington, D.C. The offer is part of the Trump family’s latest effort to profit from the president’s personal cryptocurrency, which he launched right before his inauguration. News of the announcement saw $TRUMP surge 55 percent over the previous day, per CoinDesk.
Trump’s cryptofortune has continued to grow since he returned to the White House. In addition to the presidentandFirst LadyMelania Trump debuting his-and-hers meme coins — which have been lucrative — theTrumpfamily leads the decentralized finance exchange World Liberty Financial, which has sold at least $550 million worth of its first digital token, $WLFI.
Widespread concern among experts has been raised as World Liberty Financial — where Trump’s sons Barron, Eric, and Donald Trump Jr. all hold official titles — offers a potential way to funnel money to the family. DT Marks DEFI LLC, a company linked to the family, has the right to75 percent of revenuefrom token sales. The Trump administration’s push to deregulate the crypto sector could further expand the opportunity for bad operators in the crypto space to essentially pay the family off in exchange for favors.The Wall Street Journalreported last month that World Liberty Financial has explored taking a financial stake in disgraced crypto exchange Binance, whose criminally convicted founder has been itching for a pardon. Binance wasreportedlyencouraged by Trump’s Securities and Exchange Commission asking a court to pause a fraud lawsuit against Chinese-born investor Justin Sun, who invested $30 million in World Liberty Financial last fall.
Trump’s Justice Departmentindicated earlier this monththat it will no longer pursue any investigations into crypto fraud.
There’s also plenty of ethical concern around someone being able to sit down for an exclusive dinner with the president if they pour enough money into his personal meme coin venture.
A previous analysis reviewedbyThe New York Times found that the earlyrise in valueof Trump’s meme coin helped some investors to earn massive profit while its crash caused more than810,000 crypto wallets to lose $2 billion combined. Meanwhile, the Trump family raked in approximately $100 million in trading fees alone.
While many are alarmed to see the president’s flashy invitation to top meme coin investors, he held a similarlavish “Gala VIP Dinner” back in January 2024 for people who bought at least $4,700 worth of “Trump Cards,” anNFTcollection of digital trading cards that portrayed Trump as a superhero, a cowboy, or a god.
This time around, the president of the United States has plastered a leaderboard of his meme coin’s biggest investors on the site, which states it will keep track of rankings from April 23 and May 12. Per the page, the coin’s 25 top holders would will get access to a private VIP reception with Trump and a tour of the White House.
Trump doesn’t seem to have any issue offering access to financial backers — despite the myriad of ethical issues over the practice. Former Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya, who gave heavily to Trump’s 2024 campaign, bragged on a podcast recently about how easily he can access the administration. “The Trump administration is totally different,” he said. “There’s not a single person there you can’t get on the phone and talk to.”
