Pay to dine with Trump
THE sale of face-to-face access to US President Donald Trump through a cryptocurrency bearing his name has done more than line his pockets.
Trump announced last month that top buyers of a meme coin known as $TRUMP would be invited to a private dinner with him at one of his golf resorts. The highest spenders would even score a VIP reception and a tour of the White House.
The promotion ignited a frenzy in the crypto world and sparked bipartisan condemnation, all while leaving the sitting president unusually vulnerable to outside influence – including from foreign investors with policy agendas.
Since the announcement, crypto speculators around the world have scrambled to scoop up $TRUMP, a novelty token tied to Trump's political brand.
Some buyers have said outright that they purchased the coin with hopes of swaying US policy.
The result? A surge in the coin's value –at least on paper – that's added billions to a stash controlled by Trump, his family and business allies.
The sale of face-to-face access to President Donald Trump using the Trump family's own cryptocurrency has done more than benefit him financially, though it has certainly done that. -- 5.9 x 4.4 -- cat=a
According to the crypto analytics firm Chainalysis, they've already made more than US$1.3mil in transaction fees as the coin is traded.
Some traders jumped in early, flipping coins for big profits as others raced to buy into 'the most exclusive invitation in the world', as the promotion billed it.
But the backlash has been swift.
The spectacle helped derail a key piece of cryptocurrency legislation in Congress, with industry leaders and lawmakers – including some Republicans – uneasy about the optics.
'It does give me pause because it complicates our work here,' said Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis. 'The optics are challenging.'
The Times found that trading volumes for $TRUMP spiked the day before the contest was publicly announced.
That raises the possibility that information leaked, giving some traders a chance to make early bets.
Former US securities officials say Trump may be skating close to violations of federal law – not that he's likely to face consequences.
His administration has dramatically scaled back crypto enforcement at both the SEC and the Justice Department.
'This absolutely would have triggered an initial investigation,' said John Reed Stark, a former SEC cybercrimes chief.
'Or at least it certainly would have under norms from prior Republican and Democratic eras.'
The White House has brushed off the criticism.
A senior official described the dinner as 'a private event' taking place during Trump's personal time, while White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president is 'abiding by all conflict-of-interest laws'.
Trump began promoting $TRUMP on Jan 17, just days before his inauguration.
Like many meme coins, its value is heavily driven by social buzz.
The coin's price spiked, then dropped, before Trump repeatedly intervened to keep it afloat – culminating in the dinner contest.
A website tied to the promotion outlined the rewards: the top 220 buyers get a spot at the gala dinner, the top 25 gain VIP access to Trump and a White House tour, and the top four receive a Trump-branded timepiece dubbed 'the most beautiful watch ever made'.
The leaderboard-style contest, which plays out in real-time on the website, gamifies the auction.
Investors can track how much more they need to spend to make the cut before the contest ends.
But according to Chainalysis, most buyers are losing money – even as the Trump family profits.
Blockchain records suggest many participants are based outside the United States. Buyers flocked to overseas crypto exchanges like Binance and Bybit, which bar US users.
With help from data firm Nansen, The Times identified top account holders in Singapore and Australia.
One of them, Sydney-based crypto entrepreneur Kain Warwick, confirmed he was aiming to meet Trump in person.
Another trader, identified only as 'Sun', is reportedly linked to HTX – an overseas exchange where controversial crypto mogul Justin Sun serves as adviser.
Sun was previously sued for fraud by the SEC but has also invested heavily in Trump's crypto ventures.
The promotion gives foreign buyers a direct route to Trump, something normally restricted under US campaign finance law, which bars foreign nationals from donating to political candidates.
But nothing stops them from buying meme coins.
In Mexico, logistics CEO Javier Selgas initially said he would purchase US$20mil worth of $TRUMP in hopes of getting Trump to lower tariffs.
After a backlash, the company backed away from those plans.
In Singapore, crypto firm MemeCore surged up the leaderboard with a stash valued at US$19.3mil.
Its chief business officer, Cherry Hsu, said they hope to share their 'vision and mission' with Trump at the dinner.
'It's a very, very good opportunity,' Hsu said.
Some traders are playing the market, not the dinner game.
One investor, using the alias 'ABC', spent US$160,000 on the coin the day before the dinner was publicly announced, then sold the entire holding just eight days later, making US$407,000 in profit.
Because the contest rewards average holdings over time, ABC may still score an invite despite holding zero $TRUMP now.
All of this frenzied trading has proven lucrative for Trump and his family.
Every time a $TRUMP coin is sold, the family and its partners earn a slice of the transaction.
Since the coin launched, they've raked in US$320mil in fees, Chainalysis found.
And that's just the beginning.
Trump also controls 800 million $TRUMP coins through a tied business entity.
Since news of the dinner contest began circulating in April, the value of that stash has ballooned by US$4.1bil – though that's theoretical, for now.
If the family tried to sell all at once, the price would likely collapse. — ©2025 The New York Times Company
This article originally appeared in The New York Times
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