What we know about Trump's secretive private dinner for top holders of his memecoin
President Donald Trump will host a dinner on Thursday not to raise cash but to thank the attendees for giving his family some of their money.
The official backers of Trump's meme coin, $TRUMP, are hosting a gala at the president's DC-area private golf club. The top 220 holders of the digital token were invited to join the president.
The White House has defended Trump's appearance amid criticism from congressional Democrats and government ethics organizations.
"The President is working to secure GOOD deals for the American people, not for himself," White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement. "President Trump only acts in the best interests of the American public — which is why they overwhelmingly re-elected him to this office, despite years of lies and false accusations against him and his businesses from the fake news media."
This is what we know about Trump's meme coin dinner
Trump's family has made tens of millions already.
Trump's family and other coin backers have raked in over $320 million in trading fees so far, according to a Reuters report that cited research by Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics firm. Of those fees, at least $1.35 million were collected after the meme coin's official website announced the Trump dinner.
The Trump Organization, Trump's private company, and related entities hold 80% of the meme coin's supply. Officially, the meme coin project says Trump is appearing as a guest at the dinner.
One invitee founded a blockchain platform and ate a $6 million banana
Justin Sun, found of TRON, a blockchain platform, said that he was one of the top holders of Trump's meme coin. According to the coin's website, a wallet with the username "Sun" was listed as the top holder.
On X, Sun joked about bringing bananas to his meeting with Trump. Last year, Sun paid $6.2 million for an edition of the viral art piece of a duct-taped banana, officially titled "Comedian." As is the tradition, Sun ate the banana.
Sun is also a major investor in World Liberty Financial, a digital asset firm, backed by the Trump family.
In 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Sun for market manipulation. After Trump retook office, the SEC paused enforcement of the case.
What we know about the other likely attendees
A top official for MemeCore, a Singapore-based crypto company, told The New York Times that the company holds over $19 million worth of Trump coins because the dinner was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
"They might be famous people from the crypto industry," Cherry Hsu, the company's chief business officer, told the Times. "It's a very, very good opportunity."
Another top coin investor, Kain Warwick, echoed Hsu's hope of hobnobbing with the powerful.
"It would be great to be able to meet the president," Warwick, a crypto entrepreneur in Sydney, told the Times. "That's something that I wouldn't have expected I would have the opportunity to be even in the position to do."
Most of the attendees are likely not Americans
Nineteen of the top 25 token holders are likely people not in the US, Bloomberg reported. Their analysis found that the wallets mostly used foreign exchanges, which are not supposed to be available to US users. It is possible that some holders used a VPN.
Only the top 220 coin holders will get to attend the dinner.
The black-tie optional dinner will be held at the president's DC-area golf club, Trump National Golf Club, Washington DC, which is located in Northern Virginia. An avid golfer, Trump has frequented his properties during both terms in the White House.
It's an exclusive invitation. No plus ones can attend. The top 220 holders could have passed on the rights to their invitation to someone else.
The entire set-up is similar to previous dinners that Trump held to thank those who bought licensed nonfungible tokens. The major difference is that all of those events happened when he was out of office.
There are some restrictions
Attendees had to pass a background check. They also couldn't be from "a KYC watchlist country," a reference to anti-money laundering standards.
There's a special VIP event that has an even smaller guest list.
The top 25 coin holders will attend a special reception with Trump. There will also be a "special tour." Initially, the website mentioned a White House tour but that has since changed. It's unclear where the special tour will be held.
Some Democrats are aghast at the entire spectacle.
Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, a Democrat, said during a town hall last month that there was "no question" that the meme coin backers, which include Trump's family, selling off dinner with the president "rises to the level of an impeachable offense."
"It appears that the president's business and family are being personally enriched through this cryptocurrency venture," Ossoff later told CNN.
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