Trump: Crypto dinner for investors in his meme coin $Trump

Washington. Despite massive criticism and loud protests from demonstrators, US President Donald Trump hosted a gala dinner with major investors in his cryptocurrency at one of his golf clubs. According to journalists present, around 100 people gathered outside the entrance that evening (local time) to protest the event. The dinner was advertised on the website of the "meme coin" called $Trump, featuring the president's portrait, as "the world's most exclusive invitation."

The 220 major investors in the cryptocurrency will be allowed to attend the dinner with the president, it said. They will be ranked, like a competition. The top 25 cryptocurrency buyers will also be rewarded with a reception by the president before the dinner and a "special VIP tour." The Washington Post reported that they were originally promised a tour of the White House, but this has now been unspecified.

Demonstrators protest near the Trump National Golf Club Washington DC before the arrival of the US President for a crypto dinner.

Source: Rod Lamkey/FR172078/AP/dpa

Critics accuse Trump of conflating his presidency with his own economic interests. Protesters outside the golf club held up signs with slogans such as "Stop Trump's crypto corruption" and "Democracy is not for sale." Videos online also captured them shouting "Shame, shame!"

Democratic Representative Sean Casten wrote on the online platform X that dozens of guests at the dinner were foreign nationals. He warned of potential foreign influence on U.S. politics and called on the Department of Justice to investigate whether the dinner violated federal bribery laws.

George Washington University law professor Jessica Tillipman criticized the event on CBS News as "unprecedented." She said it appeared to involve a president who may be privately profiting from something he did in public.

Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt rejected such criticism, emphasizing that the president was attending the dinner on his own time. "It's not a White House dinner," she said, and it's not being held there.

Trump calls himself the "crypto president." He expressed his openness to digital currencies during the election campaign and received considerable support from the industry. The Republican launched the cryptocurrency named after him, $Trump, shortly before taking office. In this context, the industry connections of the Trump Organization, which is run by the president's sons, sparked controversy.

RND/dpa