President Donald Trump held a private event Thursday night with over 200 of the highest-paying customers of his personal cryptocurrency despite concern that he is amassing personal wealth at the expense of the White House.
The event was held at the Trump National Golf Club in suburban Washington. The 220 guests, which included some celebrities like former NBA player Lamar Odom, arrived in tuxedos and luxury SUVs with tinted windows. Greetings to enter the event, however, were not as luxurious since dozens of protesters stood at the club's entrance changing "shame, shame, shame."
To secure a seat, the mostly anonymous attendees had to be among the top holders of the $TRUMP coin, with the average participant spending $1.8 million, NBC News reports.
Trump's memecoin was launched just days before his inauguration, sparking questions over the legality and ethics of a president amassing wealth during his time in office. A memecoin is a type of digital currency tied to an online joke or mascot; it typically has no function beyond speculation. Trump's coins have become a vehicle for investors, including many foreigners, to funnel money to his family.
Adding to fuel to the criticism, The New York Times reported that many guests confirmed they attended the event with the explicit intent of influencing Trump and U.S. financial regulations. Further, the organizers of the event framed it as a contest, where the top 220 investors would dine with the president at his golf club and the top 25 would attend a more intimate gathering with him before dinner and go on a tour of the White House.
"I'm very excited to meet him and discuss crypto's future," said Justin Sun, a Chinese billionaire who runs the crypto platform Tron. He spent more than $40 million on $TRUMP coins, earning himself the top spot on the investor leaderboard.
Another guest, Vincent Liu, the chief investment officer at Kronos Research, a crypto firm founded in Taiwan, said his firm bought enough of the $TRUMP coins to ensure he had a seat at the dinner, with the hopes of having a conversation with the president. Kronos profits by conducting high-frequency trading on crypto platforms across the world, except in the U.S.
"I will definitely not hesitate to share my perspective," Liu, who is hoping to enter the U.S. market, told The Times. "It's great to see the current direction that everything's going."
Two Trump-affiliated companies own 80% of the $TRUMP coin project. While their ability to sell is restricted in the short term, the project's creators get a fee for every trade. Those fees have added up to more than $324 million since January, NBC News reports. The precise amount going to Trump personally is not known.
"Every time there's a transaction, he gets a transaction fee? Just unconscionable what he's doing," said Ken Papaj, a former Treasury Department official who was among the protesters outside the event.
"He's using the presidency to make himself and his family richer. It's just not right for that to be happening to our country," he added.
The gala sparked bipartisan concerns. For instance, Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., said this month that the exclusive dinner "gives me pause," and Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said the concept of the dinner, "in abstract, is hard to understand.
Meanwhile, Sen. Chris Murphy, D.Conn., said "this is the most corrupt White House in the history of the country. Just because the corruption's playing out in public where everybody can see it doesn't mean that it isn't rampant, rapacious corruption."
© 2025 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
