On May 5th, during an interview with the Meet the Press program, US President Donald Trump denied personally profiting from his presidential term and rejected allegations of benefiting from the cryptocurrency named after him – TRUMP. Program host Kristen Welker directly asked whether Trump was making profits from this token, especially since data from Chainalysis shows that he and his allies earned nearly $900,000 in just two days through TRUMP transaction fees last month.
This sudden revenue surge occurred after the project's official website announced that the first 220 token holders would have the opportunity to have dinner with Trump – information that caused the token price to surge over 50% immediately afterward. According to information from the project's website, approximately 80% of the TRUMP supply is currently held by the Trump Organization and related parties.
Facing Welker's direct questions, Trump affirmed: "I am not making money from that." When further pressed about whether he was profiting from cryptocurrency, he responded: "I don't even care about it," and added: "If I hold shares in a company, and the company performs well and the market grows, I might have profits."
However, the "dinner with Trump" event is raising ethical concerns among experts. According to financial campaign and government ethics experts who spoke with NBC News last week, the issuance of TRUMP tokens and organizing the dinner could be an ethical violation, though not necessarily breaking current laws. Some Trump-friendly Republican representatives have also expressed concerns, while prominent Democratic politicians like Senator Adam Schiff (California) and Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts) have called for an investigation by the US Government Ethics Office (OGE).
This is not the first time Trump has been accused of exploiting his presidential position for personal gain. During his first term, he and his family members were repeatedly criticized for business activities overlapping with their political roles. However, his Republican allies typically reject these allegations, arguing that this is merely an extension of Trump's long-standing business career and completely unobjectionable.
