Latest news with #Trump-tied
NBC News
21-05-2025
- Business
- NBC News
Trump's crypto dinner cost over $1 million per seat on average
More than 200 wealthy, mostly anonymous crypto buyers are coming to Washington on Thursday to have dinner with President Donald Trump. The price of admission: $55,000 to $37.7 million. That's how much the 220 winners of a contest to meet Trump spent on his volatile cryptocurrency token, $TRUMP, according to an analysis by the blockchain analytics company Nansen. The top $TRUMP coin holders at a specific time — determined by the dinner's organizers — secured a seat. In total, the winners spent $394 million on Trump's official cryptocurrency, Nansen found, though some have sold portions of or all of their holdings since the contest ended. The amount varied significantly by spender, with the top seven winners each spending more than $10 million and the bottom 24 each spending less than $100,000. A third of the winners — 67 of them — spent more than a million dollars, the research shows. The average winner spent $1,788,994.42. Like many meme coins, $TRUMP's value fluctuates wildly, according to CoinMarketCap, which tracks cryptocurrency prices. Nansen tracked how much each of the contest winners spent on their $TRUMP at the time they purchased it. The top 220 contest winners were invited to the black-tie optional dinner at the Trump National Golf Club Washington, D.C. 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 personal cryptocurrency and associated contest, which ended last Monday, adds to the litany of ways Trump has appeared to use the office of the presidency to profit personally. His business interests are in a trust controlled by his son Donald Trump Jr., and he has intertwined many of his family businesses with his activities as president, including holding events, like the crypto dinner, at his social clubs, and issuing exclusive political statements on his social media app Truth Social. Trump's cryptocurrency also makes money for the Trump-tied groups that created it simply by being traded. For every $TRUMP coin that's traded, a transaction fee is taken. Chainalysis, another cryptocurrency research firm, has estimated that the $TRUMP coin made nearly $900,000 in transaction fees within the first two days of the contest being announced. While most federal employees would be legally barred from using their office for financial gain, the president is largely exempt, Dan Weiner, the director of the Elections and Government Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, told NBC News. 'The president is not subject to the broad prohibition on conflicts of interest that affects almost everyone else who works for the federal government,' Weiner said. 'In general this is pretty wild even by the standards of the first Trump administration, when you had a variety of people doing business at the president's hotels. This goes far beyond that, but that doesn't necessarily make it illegal for him,' he said. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement: 'The President is working to secure GOOD deals for the American people, not for himself. President Trump only acts in the best interests of the American public — which is why they overwhelmingly re-elected him to this office, despite years of lies and false accusations against him and his businesses from the fake news media.' Even the winners at the bottom of the leaderboard spent far more than the legal limit for an American to donate directly to a political candidate, $3,500. The top spender revealed himself Tuesday as Justin Sun, a Chinese-born crypto entrepreneur who told Forbes in March he had become a citizen of the tiny island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis. Sun was sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission, but that case has been paused under the Trump administration. The identities of most of the other contest winners are largely private, known only by their pseudonymous nicknames and cryptocurrency wallet addresses. However, a majority of the attendees appear to be foreign nationals, according to Molly White, an independent crypto researcher who has written about the contest. White examined each winning wallet's transactions as they crossed through different crypto exchanges, and noted when the holder appeared to use an exchange that does not legally allow U.S. citizens. Of the 220 wallets tied to contest winners, 158 of them, or 72%, appear foreign, White told NBC News. A New York Times investigation reported that the leaderboard included people representing crypto businesses in Singapore and Australia. The prevalence of non-U.S. citizens among the contest winners is notable, as it is generally illegal for people who are not U.S. citizens to donate to American political candidates, Weiner said. 'It's an incredible contrast. We have very strict laws that prohibit foreign nationals from making campaign donations. So the great irony here is that many of the people buying this currency would not be eligible to donate $100 to the president's campaign,' he said. 'We have a variety of laws that are designed to prevent undue foreign influence over our politics, something actually both parties agree is a legitimate thing to try to avoid. And yet you have this happening,' he said.
Time of India
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Gianni Infantino hit with UEFA backlash for FIFA Congress delay following Donald Trump meeting
President of Fédération Internationale de Football Association Gianni Infantino (via Getty Images) FIFA President Gianni Infantino has faced criticism from the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) after an almost two-hour delay to the 75th FIFA Congress in Paraguay due to his meeting with former U.S. President Donald Trump , officials say. The embarrassment has rekindled controversy between FIFA and UEFA as several European representatives complained about what they perceive as Gianni Infantino's continued disrespect for football governance at the expense of his political forays. UEFA criticises Gianni Infantino for Trump-tied hold-up at pivotal FIFA event FIFA Meeting Postponed Due to Infantino's Late Arrival | AD15 The consequences of the postponed FIFA Congress have increased the already-strained relationship between UEFA and Gianni Infantino. UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin led a protest walkout following the postponement of the congress by Infantino's late arrival from the Middle East, where Gianni Infantino was reported to be travelling with Donald Trump. The delay disrupted the tightly choreographed event and was met with outright condemnation from UEFA's leadership, The Athletic reports. Gianni Infantino Addresses 75th FIFA Congress in Asuncion | Soccer | Amaravati Today World News In a refreshingly blunt remark, UEFA denounced the 'last-minute timetable alterations' as not only inconvenient but 'deeply regrettable'. The body also accused Gianni Infantino of prioritizing 'private political interests' over his responsibilities to international football. This response is at a very sensitive moment, with FIFA currently in talks regarding hosting rights for the 2034 FIFA World Cup , a process during which Saudi Arabia remains a favorite While Infantino's justification was that flight problems were the culprit, UEFA representatives remained skeptical, particularly considering the visuals of his relationship with Donald Trump during a time of major policy-making in world soccer. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like [Click Here] 2025 Top Trending local enterprise accounting software Expertinspector Click Here Undo UEFA and FIFA have had a growingly awkward relationship in recent years, with disagreements over formats of tournaments, models of revenue, and expansion plans globally. Infantino's close interaction with political leaders, particularly during key decision times, is still a serious point of conflict. Also read: European football leaders stage walkout after Gianni Infantino delays FIFA Congress As football politics become more and more involved with international politics, Gianni Infantino's behavior is again being scrutinized by the game's major players. UEFA's strong pushback indicates that European football will not take the decisions quietly that are thought to be driven by private friendships or political interests. With the bidding process for the 2034 World Cup having started, FIFA's leadership has to now walk carefully to maintain credibility and harmony across the game.
