Memecoin Dinner Sparks Backlash Over Trump’s Crypto Ties

Wall Street investors scoffed at it. Democrats have railed against it. But cryptocurrency traders can’t get enough of President Donald Trump’s memecoin.

In the two weeks since plans for an exclusive dinner with the $TRUMP memecoin’s namesake were unveiled, a rush of interest has boosted the once-flagging collectible crypto token and reignited a firestorm on Capitol Hill.

The memecoin — whose logo is an image of Trump raising his fist — has jumped nearly 20 percent in value as traders have raced to snatch it up, hoping to score an invite to the May 22 dinner at the president’s golf club in Virginia. The surge of trading has generated more than $1 million in fees for the Trump family and its partners, who have now collected more than $320 million since the memecoin debuted in January, according to blockchain analytics company Chainalysis.

The event is drawing criticism from Democrats — who call it a pay-to-play scheme — and even from some Republicans. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York introduced a bill on Tuesday that would bar senior executive branch officials, including the president, from offering or endorsing financial products like memecoins. The bill was cosponsored by 13 lawmakers.

“The sitting president appears to be selling personal cryptocurrency while in office, granting access to people who buy it, and thereby enriching his business and his family. It’s gobsmacking,” Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia told POLITICO in a statement. “I’d like to hear one Republican senator defend it. Any self-respecting Congress would demand an accounting of everyone trading this coin who has any business before the government.”

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a Wyoming Republican and a staunch crypto ally, told NBC News that the dinner is giving her “pause.” A spokesperson for Lummis, Katie Warbinton, declined to comment further on the dinner but shared a statement from the senator calling Trump “the most pro-digital assets president in history.”

Spokespeople for the White House and the Trump Organization did not respond to requests for comment.

Launched just days before his inauguration, Trump’s memecoin has drawn concern from progressives and ethics watchdogs over its potential to become a conduit for foreign actors, corporate interests and others looking to curry favor with the president or his family.

But the activity before the dinner underscores the appetite among many crypto players for an audience with the president, as buyers dump millions of dollars into the token. And it’s cementing the $TRUMP memecoin as a focus of the ethics concerns swirling around the president’s business empire.

Another crypto venture tied to Trump and his sons, World Liberty Financial, is facing questions from Democrats over its business dealings — and especially its role in facilitating a $2 billion investment from an Abu Dhabi-backed firm into the crypto exchange giant Binance. Ethics watchdogs continue to scrutinize the Trump Organization’s work overseas.

“It doesn’t take any imagination to see how a cryptocurrency issued by Trump or his family members will quickly become a tool of bribery and foreign manipulation,” said Rep. Sam Liccardo, a Democrat representing parts of Silicon Valley who has also introduced legislation prohibiting the president from offering a memecoin.

Trump and the White House have repeatedly rebuffed any notion that there are conflicts of interest surrounding the president. During his appearance on “Meet the Press” this week, Trump, when asked about concerns that he is profiting from the presidency, said he wasn’t aware that the memecoin’s price had risen after the dinner announcement and added that he wasn’t “profiting from anything.”

“I started this long before the election,” he said. “I want crypto. I think crypto’s important because if we don’t do it, China’s going to. And it’s new, it’s very popular, it’s very hot.”

Once a crypto skeptic, Trump won back the Oval Office last year as a newfound believer in the industry. Just days before his swearing in, in a late-night post on social media, he expanded his crypto footprint with his memecoin. First lady Melania Trump followed up shortly afterward with her own memecoin announcement.

The memecoins, a type of crypto token often equated to collectibles like baseball cards or Beanie Babies, quickly shot up in value. But the spike didn’t last long: By April 9, the $TRUMP memecoin had fallen more than 90 percent from its all-time high of more than $75.

“Candidly, I had forgotten about the memecoin,” a crypto lobbyist who was granted anonymity to speak freely said. “And then the dinner thing came out.”

Late last month, the website promoting the $TRUMP memecoin posted plans for an “Intimate Private Dinner” where attendees could “Hear First-Hand President Trump Talk about the Future of Crypto.”

The dinner will be open to the top 220 owners of $TRUMP based on their average holdings between April 23 and May 12, who are actively and anonymously being tracked on the website’s “leaderboard.” Attendees must pass a background check and not come from a watchlist country. The top 25 holders will be invited to a private reception with Trump.

The announcement quickly set off a run-up in $TRUMP’s price, as investors scrambled to purchase the token.

About 54,000 crypto wallets have bought the memecoin since the announcement, according to Chainalysis. Some of the token’s gains have evaporated in recent days, but the $TRUMP memecoin was still up 49 percent from its April lows, as of Tuesday.

“It’s a tight race!” the X account tied to the memecoin website posted on Saturday. “Can’t wait to see you in Washington!”