President Trump’s meme coin, which had slumped 88% from its most recent high, got a boost Wednesday after its website invited the top 220 holders of the digital token to an “intimate private dinner” with the president.
After the dinner offer was posted on the $TRUMP meme coin website and X account, the value of the meme coin surged as much as $5.32, or 58%, to $14.32 on Wednesday afternoon. That gain only partially erased the meme coin’s decline in value, which hit a peak of $75.35 on January 19 the day before Mr. Trump’s inauguration.
The dinner offer promises $TRUMP coin investors the opportunity to “Hear close-up, from President Trump, about the future of Crypto!” Mr. Trump, who has vowed to turn the U.S. into the cryptocurrency capital of the world, has also pushed his own ventures into the realm of digital products, issuing everything from NFTs billed as “Trump digital trading cards” to a cryptocurrency platform called World Liberty Financial.
CIC Digital LLC, an affiliate of The Trump Organization, and Fight Fight Fight LLC together own 80% of the meme coins, according to the Trump coin site. Fight Fight Fight is a Delaware LLC, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The White House and the Trump Organization didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the promotion.
Invitations to the dinner event with Mr. Trump will only be offered to those who own the most $TRUMP meme coins, according to the website. The top 25 holders will get a bonus of “an Exclusive Reception before Dinner with YOUR FAVORITE PRESIDENT!” the website marketing the dinner said.
“Our leaderboard updates hourly in real time. Your $TRUMP coin count puts you in the running. The competition is fierce. Own $TRUMP — or watch from the sidelines,” according to the website marketing the coin.
The leaderboard will be determined by the average holdings of $TRUMP owners from April 23 to May 12, according to the website. “The more $TRUMP you hold — and the longer you hold it — the higher Your Ranking will be,” it said.
The dinner will take place on May 22 at the Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C., according to the site.
Offer draws swift criticism
Meme coins, which have no economic or transactional value, are cryptocurrencies linked to celebrities or internet trends, such as Dogecoin, which was inspired by the image of a Shiba Inu dog. Elon Musk named his federal cost-cutting group, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, after the token.
Both Mr. Trump and his wife, Melania, debuted meme coins just days before his inauguration, although both tokens have lost much of their value since their debuts. The $MELANIA meme coin now sells for about 49 cents each, down from a peak of $13.76 on Jan. 20.
The presidential dinner promotion drew criticism from lawmakers and anti-corruption groups. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, on social media blasted the offer as the “most brazenly corrupt thing a President has ever done.”
Tony Clark, U.S. executive director with Accountable.US, a nonpartisan advocacy group focused on corporate and government ethics, said in a statement that Mr. Trump “is openly inviting investors to have a bidding war over who can buy the most access to him while he laughs all the way to the bank.”
Aimee Picchi
Aimee Picchi is the associate managing editor for CBS MoneyWatch, where she covers business and personal finance. She previously worked at Bloomberg News and has written for national news outlets including USA Today and Consumer Reports.
