logo
Freight Company Tells SEC It Needs Millions in $TRUMP to Get Access to the President

Freight Company Tells SEC It Needs Millions in $TRUMP to Get Access to the President

Gizmodo06-05-2025

The transactional nature of the Trump presidency, now on the blockchain.
Donald Trump has promised to have dinner with the top holders of his cryptocurrency memecoin $TRUMP, creating a pretty clear-cut opportunity for buying access to the leader of the free world. Freight Technologies Inc., a North American-based shipping company, wants to take advantage. The firm's CEO Javier Selgas recently announced—publicly, on purpose, with zero consequence—that it intends to purchase as much as $20 million worth of $TRUMP so that he can try to influence the president's policies on tariffs.
According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing made by the company, it has tapped an institutional investor to provide financing for an initial purchase of $1 million worth of $TRUMP, with the possibility of an additional $19 million. Basically, it's borrowing up to $20 million to get a seat at the table with Trump. The company isn't shy about that goal, either. In a press release, Selgas said the purchase is part of the company's 'promotion of productive and active commerce between the United States and Mexico.'
The Trump Coin team recently announced that the top 220 holders of the $TRUMP token would be invited to participate in a private dinner with Trump on May 22, with a VIP reception and tour for the top 25 holders—a prospect that immediately set off alarm bells for any reasonable person who believes that you shouldn't be able to get a trip to the White House for lining the pockets of the president. It wasn't hard to imagine that someone—a CEO, crypto insider, foreign actor—would buy up some $TRUMP in order to get a seat at the table with him for a night. It probably was a little less expected for a company to issue a press release about enacting that strategy.
Per the leaderboard on the Trump Coin website, the $1 million investment should be enough to get Selgas and Freight Technologies in the door for dinner. The current top holder of $TRUMP is Justin Sun, the founder of crypto platform TRON, which was investigated by the SEC for allegedly manipulating the price of the cryptocurrency. He holds approximately $1.2 million worth of $TRUMP, and is one of only two people who currently have more than $400,000 worth of the token.
Trump, for his part, is acting like he doesn't know anything. During an appearance on NBC News' Meet the Press over the weekend, Trump said 'I haven't even looked' when asked if he had profited off his cryptocurrency, which launched shortly before he took office for the second time. 'If I own stock in something, and I do a good job, and the market goes up, I guess I'm profiting,' he said, which is a pretty good encapsulation of just how deep his understanding of the crypto space.
He doesn't have to look to profit, of course. Around 80% of all $TRUMP coins are owned by two entities: CIC Digital, an affiliate of the Trump organization, and Fight Fight Fight LLC, which is co-owned by CIC Digital. So the vast majority of the tokens are already in Trump's pockets. When people buy the token, like, for instance, when there is an announcement that holding the coin could get you a private dinner with the president, the price goes up, and so does the value of Trump company holdings. They also 'receive trading revenue derived from trading activities,' per the Trump Coin site, so they're cashing in on each transaction, too.
Trump has always been a transactional person. Now it just happens to be logged to the blockchain.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Fed's Waller Outlines Path to Rate Cuts Later This Year
Fed's Waller Outlines Path to Rate Cuts Later This Year

Yahoo

time10 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Fed's Waller Outlines Path to Rate Cuts Later This Year

(Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said he continues to see a path to interest-rate cuts later this year amid his expectations that tariffs will boost unemployment and temporarily increase inflation. Billionaire Steve Cohen Wants NY to Expand Taxpayer-Backed Ferry Where the Wild Children's Museums Are The Economic Benefits of Paying Workers to Move Now With Colorful Blocks, Tirana's Pyramid Represents a Changing Albania NYC Congestion Toll Brings In $216 Million in First Four Months Waller said tariffs will raise inflation in the 'coming months,' but he supports looking through any near-term rise in price growth when setting policy as long as inflation expectations remain anchored. 'Assuming that the effective tariff rate settles close to my lower tariff scenario, that underlying inflation continues to make progress to our 2% goal, and that the labor market remains solid, I would be supporting 'good news' rate cuts later this year,' Waller said in remarks prepared for a Bank of Korea conference in Seoul on Monday. Waller referenced a speech he gave in mid-April, in which he outlined two scenarios for how trade policy may unfold. His 'large-tariff' scenario assumed an average trade-weighted tariff on goods of 25% that remained in place for 'some time.' The 'smaller-tariff' scenario assumed a 10% average tariff, and that higher country and sector-specific duties would be negotiated lower over time. In both scenarios, Waller expects the impact of tariffs on inflation would be temporary. He also anticipates the levies will cause an increase in the unemployment rate that will 'probably linger.' That said, job cuts would likely be 'modest,' he said, under the smaller-tariff option. 'Reported progress on trade negotiations since that speech leaves my base case somewhere in between these two scenarios,' Waller said. He now estimates a 15% trade-weighted tariff on goods imports. During Waller's dialogue with Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong, he attributed recent increases in long-term treasury yields to rising concerns over the US fiscal deficit. He said markets had expected some progress toward fiscal consolidation, but estimates now suggest the federal deficit will remain near $2 trillion — about 6% of gross domestic product — for the foreseeable future. 'If there's going to be a lot more debt issuance than the markets thought, they'll buy it — but at a much lower price, unfortunately,' he told Rhee. 'It's not a question of whether it will sell, but the price they're willing to pay.' He added that recent trade and geopolitical developments, including tariff announcements and signals from the White House, have fueled risk aversion among foreign investors. Some institutional buyers are reassessing their exposure to US assets, which could weigh on demand and push yields higher. Inflation Expectations Waller largely dismissed a 2025 surge in the University of Michigan's gauge of consumers' inflation expectations over the next five to 10 years. He said he prefers to look at market-based measures of inflation compensation and professional forecasters' expectations, which have not seen a similar increase. Waller said the 'strong' labor market and recent progress toward the Fed's 2% inflation goal offer policymakers time to see how trade negotiations unfold, echoing many of his colleagues. Fed officials have largely indicated rates are in a good place while they await further clarity on President Donald Trump's policies — particularly tariffs — and their impact on the economy before adjusting borrowing costs. Waller underscored that considerable uncertainty remains around the ultimate level of duties imposed on other countries and sectors. Trump announced Friday that he would be increasing tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50%, from 25%. 'As of today, I see downside risks to economic activity and employment and upside risks to inflation in the second half of 2025, but how these risks evolve is strongly tied to how trade policy evolves,' Waller said. Stablecoin Implications Waller also weighed in on stablecoins, describing them as a potential tool to introduce competition into payments system. While noting he couldn't speak for the US government's stance on legislation, Waller said he views stablecoins as 'just a payment instrument,' one that could be issued by non-bank entities in the same way deposits are used for transactions. 'If stablecoins can help drive down costs, especially for small and medium-sized firms doing cross-border transfers, I'm all for allowing competition rather than having regulators set prices,' Waller said. (Updates with Waller's comments after speech.) YouTube Is Swallowing TV Whole, and It's Coming for the Sitcom Millions of Americans Are Obsessed With This Japanese Barbecue Sauce Mark Zuckerberg Loves MAGA Now. Will MAGA Ever Love Him Back? Will Small Business Owners Knock Down Trump's Mighty Tariffs? Trump Considers Deporting Migrants to Rwanda After the UK Decides Not To ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

Drug maker Indivior to abandon London stock market for the US
Drug maker Indivior to abandon London stock market for the US

Yahoo

time16 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Drug maker Indivior to abandon London stock market for the US

Drug maker Indivior has announced plans to delist its shares from the London Stock Exchange (LSE), marking the latest company to abandon the UK market for the US. However, the LSE welcomes Anglo-American's platinum spin-off Valterra after becoming independent from the mining giant. Indivior's exit comes after the company moved its primary listing to the US's Nasdaq index last year. It said cancelling the secondary listing in London eliminates 'cost and complexity' and better reflects the business – with more than 80% of its revenues generated in the US. It also said liquidity on the Nasdaq now 'far outweighs' that of the LSE with a greater level of trading. The US-based pharmaceutical firm makes prescription medicines to treat opioid addiction, and has a market capitalisation of £1.2 billion. 'A single primary listing on Nasdaq best reflects the profile of Indivior's business,' chairman David Wheadon said. 'We appreciate the support received from shareholders for this initiative and look forward to capitalising on the expected benefits of this move, including reductions in cost and complexity.' The LSE faced the largest exodus of companies since the global financial crisis in 2024, according to EY analysis. There were 88 companies to delist or transfer their primary listing from the main market – the most since 2009. At the same time, the LSE struggled to attract as many new companies to fill the gaps – with 18 new listings in total last year. Nevertheless, Indivior's exit, which will take effect from July 25, comes as Valterra Platinum makes its debut on the London market. Anglo American spun off its platinum business into the new entity, which has become the world's most valuable producer of the metal. Valterra will have its secondary listing on the LSE, with its primary on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Duncan Wanblad, Anglo American's chief executive, said: 'Valterra Platinum has been a major part of the company for many years but now is the right time for it to optimise its value creation prospects on an independent path – it's an outstanding business and team and I have every confidence that Valterra Platinum will thrive as a leader in the global platinum group metals industry.' Sign in to access your portfolio

Harvard Chinese grad speech draws praise and ire
Harvard Chinese grad speech draws praise and ire

Yahoo

time16 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Harvard Chinese grad speech draws praise and ire

A Chinese Harvard graduate's speech calling for unity in a divided world, delivered days after the US vowed to "aggressively" revoke Chinese students' visas, has sparked mixed reactions in the US and her home country. "We don't rise by proving each other wrong. We rise by refusing to let one another go," Jiang Yurong said on Thursday, the same day a US federal judge blocked the Trump administration's ban on foreign students at Harvard. Her speech went viral on the Chinese internet, with some saying it moved them to tears. However, others said her elite background is not representative of Chinese students. In the US, some have flagged her alleged links with the Chinese Communist Party. In their efforts to restrict Harvard from enrolling foreign students, US authorities had accused the institution of "co-ordinating with the Chinese Communist Party". Ms Jiang, who studied international development, was the first Chinese woman to speak at a Harvard graduation ceremony. In her address, Ms Jiang emphasised the value of Harvard's international classrooms, noting how that taught her and her classmates to "dance through each other's traditions" and "carry the weight of each other's worlds". "If we still believe in a shared future, let us not forget: those we label as enemies - they, too, are human. In seeing their humanity, we find our own," said Ms Jiang, who spent her final two years of school at Cardiff Sixth Form College in Wales before going to Duke University in the US for her undergraduate degree. A conservative X account, with the handle @amuse, criticised Harvard for choosing a graduation speaker who is "a representative of a CCP-funded and monitored non-government organisation", alleging that her father works for a non-government organisation that "serves as a quasi-diplomatic agent for the [party]". The account, which has 639,000 followers, has previously posted pro-Donald Trump content, such as the US leader fighting Darth Vader and sexualised imagery of former Vice-President Kamala Harris. Some Chinese social media users, on the other hand, allege that the organisation Ms Jiang's father works for is backed by prominent American companies and foundations. The BBC has not independently verified these allegations. "This is why she could get a scholarship to go to the UK for high school, and later also to Harvard," wrote a user on China's X-like platform, Weibo. Others called for her to stay on in the US, with comments that reeked with sarcasm. "Such talent should be left to the United States," one wrote. "I hope she will continue to glow abroad and stay away from us!" read another. But Ms Jiang's vision of a "shared humanity" also struck a chord. "That she is able to stand on an international stage and speak the heart of Chinese students has moved me to tears," wrote a user on Red Note, another Chinese social media platform. Another user defended Jiang by hitting back at those who criticised her: "You may not have changed them, but they've heard you... As more and more people speak out like you, you will eventually move and change others." There are around 6,800 international students at Harvard, who make up more than 27% of its enrolments in the past academic year. About a third of these foreign students are from China, and more than 700 are Indian. Students or spies? The young Chinese caught in Trump's crosshairs 'We did not sign up for this': Harvard's foreign students are stuck and scared

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store