Latest news with #EmolumentsClause
NBC News
23-05-2025
- Business
- NBC News
Who attended Trump's crypto dinner? Photos and social media offer some clues
'Mostly men, I think I was one of the maybe 5 women there,' she wrote. 'Felt like 50/50 of people from the states compared to those from other countries — we met people from China, Philippines, Dubai, Korea, etc.' The event has been widely criticized ever since its announcement, with government ethics experts and Democratic politicians decrying it as an extreme breach of presidential norms. Some Republican lawmakers also said the event made them uncomfortable. And while the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution gives Congress the power to limit the president from profiting off his position through foreign gifts, Trump's broad embrace of crypto and many other businesses has gone far beyond what any previous president has done while in office. The White House did not respond to requests for comment Friday. Earlier this week, a spokesperson said Trump 'only acts in the best interests of the American public.' As for the memecoin, which launched in January, Trump's interests are not entirely clear. While the website for the contest claims that Trump 'is appearing at the dinner as a guest and not soliciting any funds for it,' it also says that 80% of the $TRUMP coin project is owned by two Trump-affiliated companies, CIC Digital and Fight Fight Fight LLC. The coin's creators receive a transaction fee every time someone buys or sells the coin. 'You're essentially allowing people who want to ingratiate themselves to put money directly into the President's pocket, both people who are American citizens and permanent residents and foreign nationals,' said Dan Weiner, the director of the Elections and Government Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, ahead of Thursday's event. 'And that flies in the face of all of the norms we have built up around public service. It's why every other president in recent memory, voluntarily, you know, divested from any assets that might pose a conflict of interest.' The splashiest arrivals included Justin Sun, the top buyer of $TRUMP who had revealed his identity ahead of the event, and Odom, who used to play for the Los Angeles Lakers but on Thursday night appeared promoting his own meme coin. But alongside them was a lesser-known set of individuals. If they were among the top 220 holders of the $TRUMP coin, they also had the option to give their ticket to someone else, according to the published rules. Winners, or people who received tickets from them, were not allowed to bring guests. NBC News requested comment from everyone it was able to identify. Most did not respond. Some of the attendees had deep connections to the world of cryptocurrency. Jack Lu, the CEO of the San Francisco-based NFT marketplace Magic Eden, posted a photo of himself at the event on X and was photographed entering the event by NBC News. Lu hadn't previously posted about owning $TRUMP or about politics. Alongside him in his photo was Magic Eden's Chief Business Officer Chris Akhavan. In 2024, Akhavan tweeted about appearing at a Trump NFT event, but had not tweeted about potentially holding $TRUMP, according to a search by NBC News. In the same photo was Clinton Bembry, the founder of Slingshot Finance, a crypto company that was recently acquired by Magic Eden. Bembry also had not previously posted about purchasing $TRUMP coin. Another attendee, Michael Raumann, posted a signed menu on Instagram and was photographed outside the event. Raumann has worked for a German crypto startup, according to past media coverage and YouTube videos. Stephen Hess, the founder of Metaplex, a platform that launches crypto products, posted a photo of himself ahead of the dinner, and was photographed by NBC News outside of the event in a Metaplex hat. Mackenzie Hom, who leads strategy at the Cayman Islands-based Metaplex foundation, was included in the photo, and posted photographs from the event alongside Hess and Clay Helms, head of partnerships at the company. Metaplex software 'powered the $TRUMP token launch,' according to the dinner's website. Sandy Carter, chief operating officer of San-Francisco-based Unstoppable Domains, a blockchain-based web-hosting company, was also photographed at the event with the group of Metaplex executives. A former vice president at Amazon Web Services, she also posted several photos to X. Bryce Paul, the chief investment officer of San Diego-area investment fund Tower 18 Capital, posted a selfie from the event on X. 'Never stop fighting for what you believe in,' he wrote. He's also the host of a crypto podcast and the author of a crypto book, marketed as, 'How to make a fortune in the new crypto bull run… without needing much money.' Another crypto owner, Kendall Davis, spoke to NBC News outside the event as he sparred with protesters. He said the industry had made him a multimillionaire after he previously was homeless, and he characterized his attendance as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to dine with a sitting president. Many of the attendees maintained more discreet profiles. Brian Ng, a poker player from Massachusetts, was photographed entering the event, but did not post any identifiable content using his name. In a phone call, he confirmed he attended and said it was a great networking event. Yasin Okan, who is based in Turkey and has worked as a flight attendant according to his X and LinkedIn profiles, posted on Instagram from the event. He did not respond to a request for comment. New Zealand financial trader and amateur soccer player Dylan Stansfield was also photographed at the event. When reached for comment, Stansfield said he was 'infuriated to have been identified' and that ''doxxing' crypto people put their lives at risk.' There has been some growing cause for concern in the crypto world regarding personal security. In France, a string of violent kidnappings has targeted the crypto community in the last month. Nick Pinto, an influencer who posted on TikTok, Instagram and X from the event, said others at the event were keen to maintain privacy. 'The attendees didn't like cameras. A lot of times when an event photographer came around they'd reject the request for photos,' he told NBC News. Pinto said he tried to get a photo with Trump when he appeared, but that Trump's appearance was brief. 'He gave his speech and then immediately left. I wrote 'Can I get picture?' on my phone screen using Snapchat text like people do at concerts, and I know that he read it as he looked at me several times during his speech. I was at the front of the line. He didn't even stay to personally hand the watches to the top 4 people that paid 8 figures to get that rank.'
Indian Express
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
US formally accepts Qatar's luxury jet for use as Air Force One for Trump
The United States has formally accepted a luxurious Boeing 747-8 jet from Qatar as a gift which is poised to be used for the Air Force One fleet and the US Air Force has been tasked to find a way to rapidly upgrade it, in order to transport President Donald Trump, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. The Pentagon added that US Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth, accepted the plane by Qatar for use as Trump's official plane. 'The secretary of defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations,' Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said. Pentagon's Parnell further said the Defence department will work to ensure proper security measures and functional-mission requirements are considered. The Boeing 747-8 jet will be modified as per the requirements of the Air Force One fleet, which is the official mode of transport for the US president. The White House has said that the Qatari gift is legal but the announcement last week caused a huge uproar in Washington. The luxurious jet is a gift by Qatar's Royal family and is estimated to cost about $400 million. The White House has said that the new plane would be transferred to the presidential library at the end of his term. President Trump justified the transfer of the jet to US, stating 'They're giving us a gift,' adding that it would be 'stupid' to turn down the plane. However, according to the US Constitution's provision of Emoluments Clause, the public officials are prohibited from accepting gifts from the foreign countries without the prior approval of Congress. The Qatari jet transfer has not received Congressional approval. The Democrats have criticised the move by the Trump administration and have also sought to block the handover. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said 'Today marks a dark day in history: the president of the United States of America officially accepted the largest bribe from a foreign government in American history,' Reuters reported.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion - Greed is good for Trump and the rest of his gang
Some politicians go to Washington, D.C. to do good. Some, like President Trump, make the trip to do well for themselves. Last week, Trump traveled to the Middle East to gild his fortune. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called Trump's trip to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates a 'public corruption tour.' Much of the Middle East is a vast arid desert, but it is an oil-fueled financial oasis for Trump and his family. Hundreds of millions of dollars have poured into the Trump family coffers from the region since the patriarch became president in 2017. Trump did not resolve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza while he was in the neighborhood, but he did pull off a sweetheart deal and received the gift of $400 million jet, which Murphy described as a 'flying palace.' It's a freebie for the president but it will cost taxpayers millions more to refit as Air Force One. The luxurious gift ride with the gold trimmings is a symbol of his fervent desire to reign in the style of a grand Middle Eastern potentate. Trump's acceptance of the plane as a gift is a clear violation of the Constitution's Emoluments Clause, which forbids foreign gifts for presidents so as to prevent undue influence by foreign officials. But even that pales in comparison to the suggestion made by his deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, that the administration could unilaterally abolish due legal process in the form of habeas corpus to make it easier for the administration to send immigrants to prison in El Salvador. Trump thinks himself king over a kingdom where greed is good. He enjoys the able assistance of a gang of royal retainers, friends and family who have aided and abetted him in his quest to make the transition from President Trump to King Midas. Attorney General Pam Bondi signed off on the legality of the gift. Not so coincidentally, she worked as a foreign lobbyist for the government of Qatar to the tune of more than $100,000 a month before Trump made her the chief legal officer of the land. He promised to drain the Washington swamp in his first presidential effort, but now he is the ultimate swamp creature, himself buried neck deep in the primordial ooze. Then there's Jared Kushner, married to the president's daughter Ivanka. His father and father-in-law are convicted felons, but he has made a fortune cutting business deals in the area since Trump became president. Trump pardoned Kushner's father who was just confirmed as ambassador to France, and made Kushner the point-person for diplomacy and commerce in the Middle East. The extended family has made a mint there since 2017 but has done nothing to bring peace to the troubled region. The smell of corruption is so rank that conservative Republicans like Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) have criticized his acceptance of freebie joy jet ride. Even the New York Post owned by Rupert Murdock, the father of Fox News complained about the optics of the lavish gift while Trump pushes for Medicaid cuts to poor Americans. Trump has the dubious distinction of being the first convicted felon to become president of the U.S. A jury of his peers found him guilty of 34 counts of felony fraud. But his victory in the presidential campaign in November 2024 punched his get out of jail free card. So, it's hardly surprising that he has ruled the way he has. Trump has perfected the art of the steal. His take on the golden rule is that the president who makes the rules, gets the gold along with his family and friends. His rich family and friends certainly benefit from his economic policies which will permit the wealthy big tax breaks funded by the blood, sweat and tears of financially pressed working families. Trump policies will help bankers and billionaires and will threaten the health and wellbeing of Medicaid recipients and children who depend on school lunches. Trump's concern for his lifestyle and the lifestyles of his rich and famous friends present Democrats with so many lines of attack that it's hard to choose among them. He's ruined a thriving economy as the latest consumer confidence index just sunk to its lowest level in 13 years. He helps sycophants like Kushner and Elon Musk make fortunes from foreign favors and federal contracts. His draconian campaign against immigrants entering the land of opportunity seeking refuge from political and economic oppression reflects his contempt for the Constitution. The appropriate Democratic response is to remind voters that Americans want a level economic and small 'd' democratic playing field where everyone has an equal opportunity to prosper and where royalism is ancient history and democracy is the featured future. Brad Bannon is a national Democratic strategist and CEO of Bannon Communications Research which polls for Democrats, labor unions and progressive issue groups. He hosts the popular progressive podcast on power, politics and policy, Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US accepts gifted Qatari plane to join Air Force One fleet
The US has accepted a plane intended for the Air Force One fleet from Qatar, a gift that has sparked criticism including from some of President Trump's biggest supporters. "The secretary of defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations," Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement on Wednesday. The plane will need to be modified before it can be used as part of Air Force One - the president's official mode of air transport. The White House insists that the gift is legal, but the announcement of the transfer a week ago caused huge controversy. The plane is a gift from the Qatari royal family and is estimated to be worth $400m (£300m). The White House says that the new plane will be transferred to Trump's presidential library at the end of his term. It could require years to fit with additional security systems and upgrades required to carry the president - including the ability to withstand the electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear blast, and to refuel mid-flight. Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Defense and Security Department, says the costs of such retrofitting could easily run to $1bn (£750m). Justifying the transfer a week ago Trump said: "They're giving us a gift". The president has also said it would be "stupid" to turn down the plane. The US Constitution has a provision known as the Emoluments Clause, which prohibits gifts to public officials from foreign governments without permission of Congress. The transfer has not received congressional approval. The president has argued that the plane transfer is legal because it is being given to the US defence department, and not to him personally. He also insisted he would not use it after leaving office. The current Air Force One fleet includes two 747-200 jets which have been in use since 1990, along with several smaller 757s. Trump has expressed his displeasure at the aircraft manufacturer Boeing, which has been contracted to provide the White House with two 747-8s directly. His team negotiated to receive them during his first term in office, though there have been repeated delays and Boeing has cautioned that they will not be available for two or three more years. Trump surreptitiously visited the Qatari plane in Palm Beach, near his Mar-a-Lago resort, just a few weeks after the start of his second term in office. The president insists there is no quid-pro-quo involved and that the plane is a simple exchange between two allies. On Truth Social he wrote: "The Defense Department is getting a gift, free of charge, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40-year-old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction." Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani has said the transfer "is a government-to-government transaction. "It has nothing to do with personal relationships - neither on the US side, nor the Qatari side. It's between the two defence ministries," he said. But those assertions have done little to calm the criticism of the deal, including from a number of Trump's allies in Congress and the right-wing media. "I think it's not worth the appearance of impropriety, whether it's improper or not," Rand Paul, Republican senator from Kentucky, told Fox News. "I wonder if our ability to judge [Qatar's] human rights record will be clouded by the fact of this large gift," Paul said. Another Republican senator, Ted Cruz of Texas, said accepting the gift would pose "significant espionage and surveillance problems". New era beckons for Air Force One after Qatari offer - but what's it like inside? Is Trump allowed to accept $400m luxury plane as a gift? Trump's critics and supporters unite against Qatar plane deal
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump blasts ‘terrible reporter' at NBC for asking about Qatar jet during South African meeting
Donald Trump raged at NBC News' Peter Alexander on Wednesday for asking about the luxury plane the Qatari government is gifting the United States, calling him a 'terrible reporter' and a 'jerk' for not addressing the 'genocide' of white South African farmers, who Trump has given refugee status to. During a bilateral Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Trump ambushed his guest with a video presentation of left-wing opposition leader Julius Malema shouting the controversial anti-apartheid slogan 'Kill the Boer!' The president also claimed that the clip revealed a mass grave site of roughly a thousand white Afrikaners, whom Trump insisted had been slain in race-based land confiscations. According to CNN, meanwhile, the footage of the 'burial' that played in the Oval Office was actually just a political monument that is meant to commemorate the deaths of white farmers. Following the minutes-long video, which saw the South African leader awkwardly ask Trump if he could provide more information and locations of the gravesites, Alexander then brought up the $400 million 'palace in the sky' that the Qatari royal family has offered to the president. The proposed gift has prompted ethics experts to claim that it could be considered a foreign bribe and a violation of the Emoluments Clause. Meanwhile, the president has repeatedly defended the gift, claiming he would be 'stupid' to turn it down. 'Mr. President, the Department of Defense announced it would accept a Qatari jet to be used as Air Force One,' Alexander began before the president cut him off. 'What are you talking about?!' Trump huffed while Ramaphosa added that he would like to 'respond' to Trump's presentation and his claims about the 'genocide' of white farmers. 'You ought to get out of here. What does this have to do with a Qatari jet?' the incensed president continued. 'They are giving the United States Air Force a jet, and it's a great thing. We are talking about a lot of other things!' As has been his habit when confronted with questions he doesn't like from legacy media outlets, especially organizations he's targeted for investigations and lawsuits, the president personally attacked Alexander and his network. 'NBC is trying to get off the subject of what you just saw,' Trump fumed. 'You are a terrible reporter. Number one, you don't have what it takes to be a reporter. You are not smart enough.' After once again praising Qatar for doing a 'very nice thing' in giving the United States a luxury jumbo plane, the president then called for NBC, its parent company Comcast, and its chief Brian Roberts to 'be investigated' for its news coverage. 'They are so terrible, the way you run that network, and you are a disgrace,' he griped. 'No more questions from you!' Trump, meanwhile, would keep coming back to his anger over Alexander's question, at one point calling him a 'jerk' and pretending he didn't know his name while going on about the white genocide conspiracy theory. At one point, after Trump again grumbled about Alexander focusing on the 'fake news' about the Qatari 747 rather than the supposed mass murder of white farmers in South Africa, Ramaphosa turned to the president and said: 'I'm sorry I don't have a plane to give you.' 'I wish you did,' Trump reacted. Meanwhile, Trump has already threatened to sue another news outlet over the way it has covered the Qatari jet. 'Why doesn't Chairman Bob Iger do something about ABC Fake News, especially since I just won $16,000,000 based on the Fake and Defamatory reporting of Liddle' George Slopadopolus,' the president declared this week. 'Everyone, including their lawyers, has been told that ABC must not say that Qatar is giving ME a FREE Boeing 747 Airplane, because they are not.' Trump added: 'Instead, and as Fake News ABC fully knows and understands, this highly respected country is donating the plane to the United States Air Force/ Defense Department, AND NOT TO ME… ABC Fake News is one of the WORST.'
