Donald Trump slammed for 'crypto corruption' after hosting meme coin dinner at private golf club

23 May 2025, 08:46

Donald Trump's critics have slammed the president for prioritising personal profit after he hosted a dinner for investors in his meme coin.

More than a hundred protestors waited for the US president outside his private country club in Northern Virginia as he arrived for the exclusive dinner on Thursday.

The American leader dined out with some of the 220 investors in the $TRUMP meme coin at the Trump National Golf Club.

He was said to have spoken to the guests, who in total had invested $148m into the $TRUMP meme coin, for about half an hour before dancing to the song YMCA.

Meanwhile, demonstrators held signs outside that read "America is not for sale", "stop crypto corruption" and "release the list".

Opposers say Mr Trump has auctioned off access to himself to foreign investors for personal gain, with Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren describing the dinner as an "orgy of corruption".

The identity of the majority of the coin holders is unknown, but more than half were believed to have been based outside the US - including China-born crypto entrepreneur and billionaire Justin Sun.

Another attendee was simply known as Ogle, a crypto security specialist who appears in video interviews with his face covered by a bandana and sunglasses.

During his speech to the guests, Mr Trump did not unveil any new crypto policies but spoke in support of a potential bitcoin reserve and then left promptly afterward, NBC reported.

According to crypto intelligence firm Inca Digital, the top 25 holders of the coin have invested more than $111m (£82.56m).

Mr Sun, who was the centre of a fraud case in 2023 before it was paused by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, won his place at the dinner with his $18.5m (£13.76m) wallet of the Trump meme coin.

He is the the largest publicly known investor in the family's crypto platform - which has made them hundreds of millions of dollars.

The remaining 80 per cent is held by a company controlled by the Trump family, and a second firm.

They have so far earned $320.19m (£238.14m), including at least $1.35m (£1m) after the dinner announcement, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis claims.

Responding to the critics, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: "All of the president's assets are in a blind trust, which is managed by his children.

"And I would argue, one of the many reasons that the American people re-elected this president back to this office is because he was a very successful businessman before giving it up to publicly serve our country."