U.S. President Trump has arranged two high-profile crypto-themed dinners this month, one targeting tech donors and another open to large holders of his official MEME token $TRUMP. This move has not only sparked moral controversy but also reignited strong doubts about potential conflicts of interest both inside and outside Washington.
「Crypto & AI」Dinner, Starting at $1.5 Million per Seat
The first fundraising dinner, named "Crypto & AI Innovators Dinner" and hosted by MAGA Inc., will be held in Washington on May 5th, with individual ticket prices starting at $1.5 million, making it one of the most expensive political fundraising events in recent years. Guests include White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks, who helped shape Trump's regulatory policies on crypto and artificial intelligence.
Despite Trump being constitutionally barred from seeking a third term, MAGA Inc. has been raising massive funds through a series of fundraising dinners this spring. The public is concerned about how these funds will be used and questions whether the close interaction with specific industry figures involves policy exchanges.
$TRUMP Holders-Only Dinner
More controversial is the second dinner to be held on May 22nd. Unlike traditional fundraising, this event is hosted by the $TRUMP MEME token development team, with participation limited to the top 220 token holders. The top 25 will even receive a "VIP White House Tour" and the opportunity to meet Trump personally.
According to event rules, participants must complete registration by May 12th, with user rankings publicly displayed on the website. As soon as the event was announced, the $TRUMP token immediately surged over 50%, and the large transactions created hundreds of millions of dollars in internal team wallet shares.
Since its launch in January, the token has been controlled by the issuing team and their associates, who hold about 80% of the supply and collect transaction fees into internal wallets. According to Chainalysis estimates, insiders have accumulated over $325 million in transaction shares. Although the team promised to extend the token unlock date by 90 days, the concentration of interests still raises external concerns.
Further Reading: Trump Directly Denies Profiting from Cryptocurrency: "I Didn't Even Look, Maybe I Might Have Earned Something"
Criticized as the 'Most Blatant Presidential Self-Enrichment Mechanism in History'
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff, among other Democrats, jointly criticized the approach of "buying tokens to meet the president" as raising bribery and corruption issues, demanding a thorough investigation.
The left-wing oversight organization Accountable.US described the event as the "most blatant self-enrichment mechanism in U.S. presidential history," warning that it could allow foreign forces to gain close contact with Trump through anonymous crypto wallets without going through traditional political donation review procedures.
Although the organizers stated in the event terms that the president "may be absent for any reason" and would compensate with a Non-Fungible Token, most observers believe Trump deliberately blurs the line between presidential responsibilities and personal token interests, posing a significant challenge to political integrity.
Further Reading: Trump Coin $Trump Beware of 'Three Money-Losing Traps': Dinner Can Be Skipped, Cutting Investors Is Legal
On Sunday, Trump himself claimed that this move is unrelated to personal interests. In an NBC interview, he emphasized:
I'm not profiting from this. I started laying out crypto before the election. I think crypto is important because if we don't do it, China will. And this trend is new, it's very popular, very hot.
Expert Opinions
Although some legal experts believe Trump has not directly promoted the token and the legal risks are limited, his issuance of an official MEME token still raises significant concerns about integrity and transparency.
Wormhole's legal counsel Cathy Yoon stated that while $TRUMP has brought new users into the Solana ecosystem, "this might not be the best development for the crypto industry". She added:
I don't think generally promoting $TRUMP is illegal, but I would say it certainly raises integrity issues and numerous ethical concerns.
I believe one benefit of blockchain-based tokens is that if a wallet is related to foreign forces, it can theoretically be traced.
Another crypto lawyer, Olta Andoni, took a more lenient stance, believing the TRUMP token's issuance is largely fine because Trump has not actively promoted it. He said:
Personally, I think it's like other MEME coins, not doing anything illegal (many lawyers think the same).
Maybe the timing isn't great, but we also want Trump to support crypto? He first did an NFT project, now a MEME coin, I bet he'll try something else soon, maybe AI...
Regulatory Relaxation or Self-Enrichment?
As the Trump administration took office, U.S. regulatory agencies' attitude towards cryptocurrency became noticeably more lenient, with federal agencies such as the SEC and CFTC releasing more friendly signals. The industry generally views this as a "180-degree turnaround" in policy for the Biden era.
This policy shift significantly overlaps with Trump's own token operations and fundraising activities, which has deepened external concerns about the intersection of his power and personal interests.
