Trump Hosts Gala for Top Memecoin Investors Amid Protests

Trump Hosts Gala Dinner for Top Memecoin Holders Amid Protests

On May 22, US President Donald Trump hosted a dinner for the 220 largest holders of the Official Trump Memecoin (TRUMP). The event took place at his golf club in Washington, D.C., while a protest unfolded outside.

Here is how Trump's dinner with TRUMP holders went, how the public reacted, and why the US president is now being accused of corruption.

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A Presidential-Scale Crypto Dinner

The gala reception was held as a premium event. The top 25 TRUMP memecoin investors were given the opportunity to mingle with Trump before the dinner and were invited to tour the White House. A total of 220 guests attended the event, including TRON founder Justin Sun. The Chinese entrepreneur is the largest holder of the ”meme” coin and has invested more than $93 million in the US president's cryptocurrency projects. After the dinner, Sun shared a short video of the event.

In addition to Justin Sun, Jack Lu, CEO of the non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Magic Eden, and Sheldon Xi, CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange BitMart, also attended the dinner.

Trump flew to the event by helicopter. The US president spent a little over an hour at the dinner, after which he stated on his social network Truth Social that the United States dominates the cryptocurrency market and promised to maintain that leadership. The White House also commented on the event, emphasizing that Trump participated ”on personal time.”

At the end of the evening, TRUMP holders were presented with gifts. The guests received black caps and commemorative plaques with the company logo. The president presented Justin Sun with a Trump Golden Tourbillon watch.

Criticism and Protests

About one hundred protesters gathered outside Trump's golf club before the dinner, shouting ”Shame!”, Bloomberg reported. They also carried placards reading ”America is not for sale,” ”Stop cryptocurrency,” and ”Memecoin fraudsters to jail.”

The protest was organized by the advocacy organization Public Citizen. Earlier, it released a report stating that cryptocurrency companies spend huge sums to promote candidates who actively support digital assets. The president's son, Eric Trump, commented on the demonstration in a conversation with Fortune. He accused the protesters of being paid.

The crypto dinner was also criticized by American politicians. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff have spoken out, calling it an ”orgy of corruption.” Ahead of the event, Congresswoman Maxine Waters also presented a bill that would ban the US president, vice president, members of Congress, and their families from participating in crypto projects. The ban covers the issuance of memecoins and stablecoins.

Crypto Market Reaction

Amid the hype around Trump's crypto dinner, the price of the TRUMP memecoin rose to $16. However, immediately after the event ended, the price of the token collapsed. According to CoinMarketCap, the ”meme” coin has fallen in price by more than 11% over the past 24 hours. At the time of writing, it is trading at $13.81.

TRUMP is the memecoin that Donald Trump launched ahead of his inauguration in January this year. Following this coin, the official token of the US president's wife, Melania Trump Official Melania Meme (MELANIA) also appeared on the market. These assets have capitalizations of $2.41 billion and $30.4 million, respectively.

Since the launch of TRUMP, Trump has been repeatedly accused of fraud. For instance, according to Chainalysis, 94% of the memecoin supply is held in just 40 wallets. About 80% of the issuance is controlled by CIC Digital LLC, which is affiliated with The Trump Organization. US authorities have already called for a federal investigation into Trump's token.

The Trumps’ Expanding Crypto Ventures

The TRUMP memecoin is not President Trump's only crypto project. His family is also behind the creation of the decentralized platform World Liberty Financial. The platform is promoted by his son, Donald Trump Jr. Earlier, it was revealed that the Trumps received at least 75% of the proceeds from the sale of WLFI tokens. Recently, World Liberty Financial introduced the stablecoin USD1, whose capitalization now exceeds $2 billion. This project has also raised numerous questions regarding the ethics of such initiatives by the US president.