Trump's Dinner with TRUMP Investors Sparks Criticism and Protests
Date: 2025-05-22 Author: Henry Casey Categories: CRYPTO PAYMENTS
On May 22, Donald Trump will host a private dinner with two hundred of the largest TRUMP coin holders at his golf club, Trump National Golf Club in Virginia. The event has caused a stir, with critics accusing the president of using the cryptocurrency for personal gain and a protest planned in front of the club by Public Citizen.
Those invited to the meeting must follow a strict dress code - women are required to wear evening gowns. In a letter to participants, the dinner was presented as a "special evening" with the 47th US President. The event is being organized by entrepreneur Bill Zanker, who has long collaborated with Trump. He oversees the promotion of the coin through Fight Fight Fight LLC, a company that manages and markets the project.
According to Chainalysis, the TRUMP token has already generated over $300 million in profit, and most of this money, according to Bloomberg, is linked to structures owned by Trump and Zanker. About 80% of the emission is controlled by affiliated companies. Websites with Trump brand products (including shoes, perfumes, and watches) also accept TRUMP payments.
The appearance of information about the dinner on the TRUMP website in late April caused a sharp increase in the token value - from $9.3 to $16.5, before the price rolled back to $11. After Trump confirmed the May 5 event on Truth Social, the rate went up again and by May 21 it reached $14.5 with a capitalization of $2.9 billion. At its peak on January 20, the token cost more than $77 on Binance.
One trader told Bloomberg how he and his friends got into the top 220 holders by using a bot to track the rankings and insure their positions. The entire process cost about $1,200 per person.
The guests at the event included Tron founder Justin Sun, representatives of MemeCore from Singapore, and Australian investor Kain Warwick. According to Fortune, most of the top holders had previous ties to Binance, indicating an international audience.
The TRUMP project and its related companies are under close scrutiny from the authorities. US senators have launched an investigation into possible ties between these structures and foreign investors, and Public Citizen has filed a complaint with the Justice Department and the Office of Government Ethics, accusing Trump of using the token for personal enrichment.
Critics, including Vitalik Buterin, point out that political memecoins can be used as a tool for bribery. According to him, buying such tokens increases the capital of the politicians themselves without requiring direct transfers.
Eric Trump called the protesters "paid" in an interview with Fortune, and the White House stressed that the president was acting in the interests of citizens, not for his own gain.
