Donald Trump's memecoin dinner

On May 22, 2025, U.S. president Donald Trump held a private dinner at the Trump National Golf Club, Washington, D.C. for the largest stakeholders in his memecoin cryptocurrency, $Trump.

Background

Trump cryptocurrencies

Main article: $Trump

Prior to his second inauguration, president-elect Trump announced $Trump and $Melania—owing its name to his wife, Melania, cryptocurrencies on the Solana blockchain. The initiative posed a conflict of interest.[1] The structure of the cryptocurrencies allow him to personally profit from price increases; Trump is linked to a business entity that owns a significant percentage of $Trump, in addition to collecting fees from trading.[2]

Announcement and bidding process

The memecoin dinner was devised by Bill Zanker, a businessman who worked with Trump on his book Think Big and Kick Ass (2007). Prior to the dinner's announcement, cryptocurrency analysts expressed concern that $Trump would fall in price after certain investors—including Zanker and the Trump family—would be able to sell their coins. An account on X posted on April 19 that Trump was planning a "large token holders".[3] On April 23, Trump announced a private dinner for the 220 highest-paying investors in $Trump between April 23 and May 12, with the twenty-five highest-paying investors earning a reception with Trump prior to the dinner and a tour of the White House. The announcement increased $Trump's price by sixty percent.[2]

According to The New York Times, at least twenty investors sold or transferred their holdings in $Trump on May 12. The bidding process allowed certain investors to profit; in one instance, an investor, known only as "Noah", purchased US$2.2 million in $Trump prior to the contest and sold it at the end of the contest, profiting over US$950,000. In an apparent effort to stop the sell-off, the social media account associated with $Trump promised to give investors who kept their coins a non-fungible token known as "Trump Diamond Hand" and that they would earn reward points.[4] Several investors were able to attend the dinner at the only cost of trading fees by shorting $TRUMP.[5] According to NBC News, the winners of the contest collectively spent US$394 million.[6] References to a tour of the White House were later removed from the dinner's website; a senior Trump official stated that the administration was not conducting a tour for the investors.[7]

Dinner

The "black-tie optional"[8] dinner was held at Trump National Golf Club Washington, D.C. in Sterling, Virginia.[9] Prior to the dinner, protesters had gathered to condemn the gathering, shouting, "Shame!"[10] The menu featured filet mignon, pan-seared halibut, and a "Trump organic field green salad".[9] An attendee who spoke to The Verge described "pretty light" security,[11] Trump's limited presence and his speech—delivered behind a podium with the presidential seal,[12] and a private afterparty at the Washington Marriott Capitol Hill hosted by Memecore.[11] Trump's speech was approximately fifteen[8] to twenty minutes long.[13] Four of the highest-paying investors, including Justin Sun, were given US$100,000 Tourbillon watches.[11] The dinner was Sun's first visit to the United States since being investigated by the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York in 2021.[14]

Attendees

According to an analysis by the Times and Nansen, several investors were from Australia and Singapore. MemeCore, a cryptocurrency company, invested US$19.3 million to get second place; Cherry Hsu, the company's chief business officer, stated that he was interested in sharing its "vision and mission" with Trump and other attendees. The first place winner was an account belonging to HTX that was believed to be associated with Justin Sun. Javier Selgas, the chief executive of Fr8Tech, told the Securities and Exchange Commission that he intended to purchase US$20 million in $TRUMP in an effort to convince Trump to lower tariffs on Mexico.[3] GD Culture Group, a publicly traded company with ties to China, announced that it had secured US$300 million to purchase Bitcoin and $TRUMP from a stock sale to the British Virgin Islands.[9] Through a guest list and social media, the Times later identified many of the attendees, including Sun and the former basketball player Lamar Odom.[15]

Responses

The dinner posed ethics concerns and opportunities for foreign influence.[16][3] Wyoming senator Cynthia Lummis and Senate majority leader Thom Tillis expressed concerns over the dinner.[8] Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington's Donald Sherman described it as "one of the most blatant and appalling instances of selling access to the presidency".[17] Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren described the dinner as an "orgy of corruption", while Oregon senator Jeff Merkley referred to it as "the Mount Everest of American corruption."[18][19]

Merkley and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer[8] introduced a bill to ban senior executive branch officials—including Trump—and their family from profiting off of cryptocurrency. Merkley additionally asked the Office of Government Ethics to investigate the dinner.[4] The Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations's investigation into cryptocurrency businesses involving Trump broadened to include the dinner.[20] Maryland representative Jamie Raskin, the ranking member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, later initiated an inquiry into the dinner.[21]

The late-night television hosts Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel ridiculed the dinner for its attendees and its apparent corruption, respectively.[22]

References

  1. ^ Ge Huang 2025.
  2. ^ a b Yaffe-Bellany, Goldstein & Lipton 2025.
  3. ^ a b c Lipton & Yaffe-Bellany 2025.
  4. ^ a b Lipton, Freedman & Yaffe-Bellany 2025.
  5. ^ Kharif 2025a.
  6. ^ Collier 2025.
  7. ^ Yaffe-Bellany & Lipton 2025b.
  8. ^ a b c d Ingram & Egwuonwu 2025.
  9. ^ a b c Yaffe-Bellany & Lipton 2025a.
  10. ^ Kharif & Faux 2025.
  11. ^ a b c Nguyen 2025.
  12. ^ Jansen 2025.
  13. ^ Treene 2025.
  14. ^ Berwick, Kowsmann & Ge Huang 2025.
  15. ^ Fahrenthold et al. 2025.
  16. ^ Neuman 2025.
  17. ^ Anderson & Garrison 2025.
  18. ^ Shapero 2025.
  19. ^ Harty 2025.
  20. ^ Kharif 2025b.
  21. ^ Zakrzewski 2025.
  22. ^ Vineyard 2025.

Works cited

Further reading

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