Who attended Trump’s controversial memecoin dinner?
The top 220 holders of US President Donald Trump’s memecoin met yesterday at the president’s golf course in Virginia for an exclusive dinner and purported meet-and-greet.
Attendees spent a grand total of $148 million for an “ultra-exclusive VIP reception with the president,” which crypto industry advocates and critics alike saw as a potential opportunity to discuss crypto policy with the president.
The crowd contained a number of foreign crypto executives and influencers who otherwise would not have access to the US president, raising questions around corruption and foreign influence.
Concerns were further augmented when White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to release a list of attendees, stating that the event was a private affair outside of Trump’s presidential duties.
However, some attendees spoke to the press or took to social media to talk about the dinner. Here are just a few:
Justin Sun
Tron founder Justin Sun was the largest TRUMP tokenholder at the gala, which was reportedly enough to earn him a special watch, presented in a special ceremony.
Sun’s presence at the event was particularly controversial. Last year, he faced a lawsuit brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission over the alleged “orchestration of the unregistered offer and sale, manipulative trading, and unlawful touting of crypto asset securities.”
The SEC asked for a reprieve in late February, just over a month since Trump’s inauguration and the subsequent 180 in federal agencies’ approach toward regulating crypto.
Outside the crypto dinner, Sun posted on May 21 that he would be spending a week in Washington, DC to have “meaningful conversations that will help shape the next chapter of blockchain’s future” in the United States.
Kain Warwick
Kain Warwick, founder of crypto exchange operator iFinex, told The New York Times on May 12 that he was attending the event after stocking up on enough TRUMP to break the top 25 investors on the leaderboard.
Warwick said he wanted to have a shot at meeting the president, or someone on his team, to talk crypto — specifically decentralized finance (DeFi), which is getting less attention in the current crop of crypto bills circulating the US Congress.
“If you assume Trump and 10 people within the Trump team are there, now you’ve got a one in 15 shot of having a conversation with one of them,” he said.
Vincent Liu
Vincent Liu, chief investment officer of crypto trading, VC and market-making firm Kronos Research, attended the event, posting pictures of the menu and Trump’s brief speech.
Liu wrote, “Simply by holding the Trump token, individuals have an unprecedented opportunity to meet the President of the United States.”
He had previously told Cointelegraph, “The decision to acquire the [TRUMP] token was not political. It was based on identifying early momentum, cultural relevance and potential market catalysts.”
Related: US lawmaker introduces anti-corruption bill ahead of Trump’s dinner
His firm stated that “alpha” — i.e., exclusive or difficult-to-obtain information that could move markets — was “on the menu.”
Lamar Odom
Also in attendance was two-time National Basketball Association champion Lamar Odom. While many other crypto entrepreneurs in the audience were focused on policy, Odom used news of his attendance to plug his own memecoin, ODOM.
Odom launched his memecoin less than a week before the dinner on May 14. The anti-addiction-themed memecoin (Odom had a public battle with substance addiction) is issued on the Solana blockchain.
The coin itself had a 20% “Trump Dinner Program” staking scheme, where TRUMP holders could stake their coins with Odom’s project, ostensibly to enable him to attend the dinner event, and receive ODOM airdrops in return. Odom himself will hold 5% of all ODOM.
Sangrok Oh
CEO of Seoul- and Tokyo-based cryptocurrency management firm Hyperithm, Sangrok Oh was the 13th-largest TRUMP holder with a wallet containing over $3 million worth of the token, according to the Straits Times.
Oh told The New York Times that he had arrived with a batch of red “Make Crypto Great Again” hats to give away at the dinner and expected to speak directly with the president. “It’s kind of a fund-raiser […] And he’ll always be good to his sponsors.”
Oh has been critical of the slow regulatory progress for crypto in the countries where his company operates.
Anonymous attendees
In addition to crypto execs and sports stars, the event also noted a few anonymous or pseudonymous crypto traders and entrepreneurs in attendance.
Among them was “Ice,” co-founder of the Singaporean crypto company MemeCore. Their company’s chief business development officer, Cherry Hsu, told Sherwood News that Trump’s rise “represents the power of memes to influence culture, perception, and movements — principles that align with MemeCore’s vision of a decentralized, community-driven future.”
“Ogle,” a cybersecurity adviser to Trump’s own World Liberty Financial crypto enterprise, as well as the pseudonymous co-founder of blockchain ecosystem Glue, also attended. Ogle said they were going out of curiosity, more than anything, and did not endorse Trump personally. “I’m hoping it’ll be fun — and hoping they’ll serve McDonald’s.”
Another anonymous attendee was “Cryptoo Bear,” a crypto trader and occasional news reporter who posts primarily in Japanese. Cryptoo Bear made no political statements about the event, mainly posting about the swag and the food. They did say they were promised a photo op with the president, but it didn’t pan out.
Dinner “guests” across the picket line
Outside the country club, US senators and former staffers attended the event as part of a protest.
Bloomberg reported that protestors shouted “Shame!” and “I hope you choke on your dinner!” at attendees. Critics of the event widely consider it to be a glaring example of corruption in Washington and within the Trump administration.
Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, joined the protest. “The spirit of the Constitution was that no one elected would be selling influence to anyone,” he said, “because it’s to be government by and for the people.”
Ken Papaj, a former Treasury Department official, said, “Every time there’s a transaction, he gets a transaction fee? Just unconscionable what he’s doing.”
The dinner comes at a pivotal time for the crypto industry in the US, where the industry is pushing hard for Congress to pass friendly regulations. Trump’s ties may complicate matters, however, as lawmakers have introduced anti-corruption bills targeting crypto and politicians.
Senate Democrats are also taking aim at the stablecoin-focused GENIUS Act, introducing a slew of amendments addressing Trump’s crypto businesses.
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Wall Street capital is flowing into late-stage, IPO-ready crypto firms, signaling new dynamics at play for the incoming altcoin season.
Kazakhstan is advancing a dual model by piloting its digital tenge CBDC alongside the Evo stablecoin as part of its push to become a crypto hub.
Politics
Met Police calls for protest against Palestine Action ban to be cancelled after Manchester synagogue attack
The Metropolitan Police has called for a planned protest in support of the banned Palestine Action group to be delayed or cancelled after Thursday’s synagogue attack in Manchester.
In a statement, the force said it wanted to deploy every available officer to protect Jewish communities, but was instead having to prepare for Saturday’s planned gathering in London’s Trafalgar Square.
Palestine Action was banned under anti-terrorism laws in July.
Politics latest: Mahmood says pro-Palestinian protests ‘dishonourable’ after Manchester attack
“The horrific terrorist attack that took place in Manchester yesterday will have caused significant fear and concern in communities across the UK, including here in London,” the Met said.
“Yet at a time when we want to be deploying every available officer to ensure the safety of those communities, we are instead having to plan for a gathering of more than 1,000 people in Trafalgar Square on Saturday in support of a terrorist organisation.
“By choosing to encourage mass law breaking on this scale, Defend Our Juries [the protest organisers] are drawing resources away from the communities of London at a time when they are needed most.”
But Defend Our Juries, which has led demonstrations against the ban on Palestine Action, said it planned to go ahead with the march.
A statement from the group on social media said: “Today, the Metropolitan Police wrote to us to ask that we postpone Saturday’s mass protest in Trafalgar Square, citing ‘significant pressure on policing’.
“Our response in short: Don’t arrest us then.”
It comes after the home secretary criticised separate pro-Palestinian protests held last night as “fundamentally un-British” and “dishonourable”.
A demonstration – held to protest the Israeli navy halting a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza – was held in London’s Whitehall on Thursday evening, hours after the attack in Crumpsall that killed two Jewish men.
The Metropolitan Police said 40 people had been arrested in the course of the protest, six of whom were arrested for assaults on police officers.
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Mahmood ‘disappointed’ with pro-Palestine protests
Speaking to Anna Jones on Sky News Breakfast, Shabana Mahmood said she was “very disappointed” to see the protests go ahead, given the context.
“I think that behaviour is fundamentally un-British,” she said. “I think it’s dishonourable.”
She said the issues that had been driving the pro-Palestine protests have been “going on for some time” and “don’t look like they’re going to come to an end any day soon” – but that those behind the demonstrations could have taken a “step back”.
“They could have stepped back and just given a community that has suffered deep loss just a day or two to process what has happened and to carry on with the grieving process,” she said.
“I think some humanity could have been shown.”
Any further protests must “comply with the law and, where someone steps outside of the law of our land, they will be arrested”, the home secretary warned.
She added: “And to anybody who is thinking about going on a protest, what I would say is, imagine if that was you that has had a family member murdered on the holiest day in your faith. Imagine how you would feel and then just step back for a minute, give people a chance to grieve.
“We can get back to our protests later – just because you have a freedom doesn’t mean you have to use it.”
However, Zack Polanski, the leader of the Green Party, accused the home secretary of being “deeply irresponsible” for her comments about pro-Palestine protests.
“I think ultimately conflating protests against the genocide in Gaza and ultimately weaponising that against an anti-Semitic attack on our streets, a terrorist attack, is deeply irresponsible,” he told Sky News Breakfast.
The Green Party leader said it was “worrying when governments are increasingly trying to crush down dissent” and using “what is a brutal attack… to try and make a point about protest”.
“We need statesmanship at this moment. We need responsibility,” he added.
The two men killed outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Thursday’s attack have been named by police as Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66.
The suspect has been named as Jihad al Shamie – a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent.
He is understood to have been granted British citizenship in 2006 when he was around 16 years old, having entered the UK as a young child.
Ms Mahmood confirmed to Sky News that the perpetrator was not known to counter-terror police and that he had not been referred to the government’s anti-terrorism scheme Prevent.
Three other people – two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s – have been arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism.
Read more:
What we know about the attack
Starmer vows to ‘wrap arms’ around Jewish community
Asked if she was concerned about further attacks, Ms Mahmood said the government was on “high alert”.
She said there had been an increase in police resources not just in Manchester but across he country.
“We as a government want to make sure that people feel safe going about their business today; so people will see an increased police presence, particularly around synagogues and other places of interest for the Jewish community,” she said.
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