Dinner with Trump: meme coin surges on offer to top buyers
US President Donald Trump's meme coin surged more than 60% on Wednesday after a post announcing 'the most EXCLUSIVE INVITATION in the world' promised the top 220 buyers of $TRUMP a private gala dinner with the president on May 22.
In addition to the dinner at Trump National Golf Club in Washington DC, the top 25 holders would get 'an ultra-exclusive private VIP reception with the president' as well as a 'Special Tour', according to the announcement.
The post on a website promoting the $TRUMP coin is the latest in a flurry of cryptocurrency-related forays undertaken by Trump and his family that have garnered them hundreds of millions of dollars in fees alone.
Trump family ventures include a new crypto exchange, World Liberty Financial, as well as a pivot to crypto finance by Trump Media & Technology Group, the social media company in which the president holds a $3bn (R56.09bn) stake.
Trump has promised to be America's first 'crypto president' and his administration has moved swiftly to scale back crypto enforcement and ease the industry's regulatory framework.
The family's push into crypto at the same time the president is overseeing a new oversight regime has fuelled concerns about potential conflicts of interest and influence peddling.
Trump's planned dinner with $TRUMP coin holders is 'a race to the bottom for presidential grifting', said Tony Carrk, executive director of Accountable.US, a non-partisan government ethics watchdog group.
'There has never been a clearer case of a president using their office to put money in their pocket or greater potential for special interests to buy an administration's favour that could threaten the public interest,' Carrk said.
Anna Kelly, White House deputy press secretary, said: 'President Trump's assets are in a trust managed by his children. There are no conflicts of interest.'
The $TRUMP coin, launched before the president's January 20 inauguration, reached $74.59 (R1,394.83) before falling to a low of $7.14 (R133.52) on April 7. Crypto analytics firm Chainalysis found that by March 12 the coin had generated at least $350m (R6.54bn) in fees for entities connected to the president.
Last week crypto watchers were expecting the $TRUMP coin to collapse as 40-million new tokens were set to unlock. The coin's account on X said on Wednesday, though, the unlock would be delayed for 90 days.
The terms of the $TRUMP dinner offer state 'President Trump may not be able to attend' but winners would receive a limited edition TRUMP NFT 'in lieu thereof'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald
3 hours ago
- The Herald
‘Disgusting abomination': Musk on Trump's tax and spending bill
The Senate, also controlled by Trump's Republicans, aims to pass the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' in the next month, though senators are expected to revise the House version. Republicans on the Senate finance committee, which oversees tax policy, are due to meet Trump at the White House on Wednesday afternoon to discuss making the bill's business-related tax breaks permanent, according to senator Steve Daines, a panel member. Analysts have warned such a move would greatly increase the measure's cost. Republican Senate majority leader John Thune said he disagreed with Musk's assessment about the cost of the bill and stood by the goal of passage by July 4. 'We have a job to do, the American people elected us to do. We have an agenda everybody campaigned on, most notably the president of the US, and we're going to deliver on the agenda,' the South Dakota lawmaker told reporters. Republican House speaker Mike Johnson also dismissed Musk's complaints, telling reporters, 'my friend Elon is terribly wrong'. Musk's loud opposition to a bill Trump has urged Republicans to pass presents a test of his political influence a week after his formal role in the administration as a special government employee with the department of government efficiency came to an end. As chief of the department, he upended several federal agencies but ultimately failed to deliver the massive savings he had sought.
TimesLIVE
3 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
China's rare earth export curbs hit Europe's car industry
BMW has deployed a magnet-free electric motor for its latest generation of electric cars, but still requires rare earths for smaller motors powering components such as windshield wipers or car window rollers. German carmaker Volkswagen said it is not seeing any shortages now. China's slow pace of easing its critical mineral export controls has become a focus of Trump's criticism of Beijing, which he says has violated the truce reached last month to roll back tariffs and trade restrictions. Trump has sought to redefine the US' trading relationship with its biggest economic rival by imposing steep tariffs on billions of dollars of imported goods in hopes of narrowing a trade deficit and bringing back lost manufacturing. Trump imposed tariffs of 145% against China only to scale them back after a sell-off in stock, bond and currency markets over the sweeping nature of the levies. China has responded with its own tariffs and is leveraging its dominance in key supply chains to persuade Trump to back down. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to talk this week to try to iron out their differences and the export curbs are expected to be high on the agenda. In a social media post on Wednesday, Trump said Xi is 'VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH', highlighting the fragility of the deal.
IOL News
3 hours ago
- IOL News
Third time's the charm: Godongwana's 2025 budget finally approved
Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana's 2025 National Budget has finally been approved following the adoption of the fiscal framework that is the backbone of the budget. Image: Independent Newspapers Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana's 2025 National Budget has finally been approved following the adoption of the fiscal framework that is the backbone of the budget. This was Godongwana's third attempt to get the National Budget passed after an outcry over two proposals to increase VAT. During a joint meeting with Standing Committee on Finance, and the Select Committee on Finance, Members of Parliament adopted the document that establishes economic policy and revenue projections and sets the overall limits for government spending. The process, which took three hours on Wednesday, was not without its issues, with some members arguing that the process was flawed and that not everyone was able to make their voice heard. Insults also flew, with one member saying that her peers should 'learn to read'. In presenting the May 21 National Budget, Godongwana said there were no austerity measures, although government spending was held back. The fuel levy as well as sin taxes were increased. The budget invests over R1 trillion in critical infrastructure to lift economic growth prospects and improve access to basic services, Godongwana said on May 21. He added that this would be done without compromising the fiscal strategy of sustainable public finances. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading Government has achieved its balancing act by reducing additional spending over the medium term by R68 bilion after facing a R75bn revenue hole as VAT was not being increased. In May, Godongwana added that the government would continue to pay large amounts to service debt, which would amount to more than R1.3 trillion over the next three years. 'Put differently, this means in 2025/26 alone we are spending around R1.2bn per day to service our debt,' he said. IOL
