Mystery surrounds the identities of the people who attended Donald Trump’s black-tie VIP dinner on Thursday night, held at the president’s golf club in Virginia.
Entry to the exclusive event required the purchase of the $TRUMP meme coin. Since the launch of the crypto coin in January, Trump-affiliated businesses have received $312 million from crypto sales and $43 million in total fees according to an investigation by The Washington Post.
NBC News cited calculations from analytics company Nansen that the 220 guests had spent $394 million on the Trump coin, meaning $1.78 million was the average figure diners had spent on the cryptocurrency.
Most of the guest list remains a secret, although former basketball player Lamar Odom, marketing director Nick Pinto and crypto investor “Ogle” were among the diners.
Crypto billionaire Justin Sun was also present—he claimed to be the top purchaser of $TRUMP on his social media accounts. Sun had been under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission over claims of market manipulation. In February the SEC requested a court stop the case against Sun.
The top 25 investors were invited to a special pre-dinner reception and tour, although details of the tour were not listed on the $TRUMP website.
Despite ethical questions raised over being able to buy access to the president, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters it was not an official event. “The president is attending it in his personal time,” she said on Thursday. “It is not a White House dinner, it’s not taking place here at the White House.”
Speaking to Anderson Cooper on Thursday, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy questioned the mystery around the guest list. “This might be close to the top of the most corrupt things that the president has done,” Murphy said. “There are 200 plus anonymous individuals who paid their way to meet with President Trump.”
He continued, “Because they know their names wouldn’t be disclosed it is likely there are probably a bunch of corrupt people in the room who don’t want their audience with the president to be public. This is corruption, old fashioned corruption but out in the open for everybody to see. I wish we knew who was there, I wish they would release that list.”
Talking to Adam Mockler on the MeidasTouch Network, Senator Elizabeth Warren also questioned the meme coin dinner guest list.
“Maybe you’re the guy who really needs a pardon, maybe you’re the one who really needs a criminal investigation dropped, maybe you’re the country that needs your tarrifs lowered,” Warren said. “How do you get the ear of the president of the United States. Trump says he’s the decision maker for all of this. How do you get his ear? Well, you could offer him a $400 million jet or you could buy a bunch of his Trump coins.”
Warren added “He’s showing the ways to buy influence with him… Ways to cut you in the deal and please smile on us when it comes time we call on you for favors, favors around anything the people with money want.”
Protesters surrounded Trump’s golf course before the dinner, calling the event “corruption embodied.”
Read it at The Washington Post
