Some 100 protesters gathered outside Donald Trump’s National Golf Course club in Virginia ahead of a secretive dinner for investors in his cryptocurrency – with spots reportedly costing over $1.5 million to dine with the president.
Holding signs reading “Stop Crypto Corruption,” “America is not for sale,” “Grift Gala,” as well as brandishing a large gold coin featuring a large image of Trump’s scowling face, the demonstrators shouted “shame, shame, shame” as the presidential motorcade arrived.
The controversial event was advertised last month as “the most EXCLUSIVE INVITATION” in the world, and involved a competition to buy access to the president by purchasing the most $TRUMP crypto currency. Around 80 percent of the meme coin’s supply is controlled by the Trump Organization and its affiliates.
The dinner is being hosted for the top 220 investors in the cryptocurrency, and the top 25 are also due to join him for a cocktail reception on Friday, according to The New York Times.
Other protesters on Thursday held signs demanding the release of the guest list for the event, which the White House has refused to make public. Critics have complained that Trump is not only using his high-profile position to profit from his meme coin, but he can also reward investors with special public favors to continue their investments.
“It is the Mount Everest of corruption,” Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon said Thursday. “This isn’t about raising money for a campaign. This is about personal profit, and what he’s selling is influence on himself and his Cabinet and the U.S. government.” He planned to attend the protest.
Photos posted to social media by the guests showed they were treated to an extravagant dinner including filet mignon and seared halibut.
According to NBC News, which cited blockchain analytics company Nansen, the guests spent a total of $394 million on the $TRUMP cryptocurrency for a chance to dine with the man heading one of the most powerful nations in the world, and the average attendee spent $1.78 million.
Analysis by Bloomberg News suggested all but six of the top 25 investors used foreign exchanges that exclude customers living in the U.S. – suggesting that they are foreign buyers. Over 50 percent of the 220 holders used similar offshore exchanges, the outlet reported.
The presence of numerous anonymous, foreign buyers spark particular concerns by Democrats about the ethics of dinner with such intimate and unfettered access to the president.
Earlier, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denied suggestions that the competition and resulting investment and reward dinner with the president was inappropriate, telling reporters that Trump was attending the dinner “in his personal time.”
“It is not a White House dinner,” she said, later adding: “It’s absurd for anyone to insinuate that this president is profiting off of the presidency.”
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“This president was incredibly successful before giving it all up to serve our country publicly,” she added. “Not only has he lost wealth, but he also almost lost his life. He has sacrificed a lot to be here.” In fact, Trump is significantly wealthier than when he first became president.
The protesters were not as convinced as Leavitt.
“It is like a black-market scheme,” Rose Fabia, 66, of Arlington, Virginia, told The New York Times. “He will use crypto as a way to line his pockets.”
Some of the guests who have made themselves known have raised eyebrows, including Justin Sun, a billionaire who runs the Tron platform – who revealed on X that he had been the top investor in $TRUMP.
“Honored to support @POTUS and grateful for the invitation from @GetTrumpMemes to attend President Trump’s Gala Dinner as his TOP fan!” Sun wrote. According to The Times, Sun was charged with fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2023, but his case was dropped shortly after Trump came to power in January.
Back then, Trump signed an executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve for the U.S., and directed his administration to promote the use of blockchain.
But the president’s desire to integrate crypto more with the U.S. financial system has worried some who believe his personal endeavors with his memecoin and crypto company, World Liberty Financial, poses a conflict of interest between what serves him best, and what serves the nation.
State Democracy Defenders Action, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting election sabotage and autocracy, said in a recent report that Trump will “likely profit from the very policies he is pursuing.”
