{"id":136244,"date":"2025-05-22T21:07:39","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T21:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/trumps-dinner-funded-by-150m-meme-coin-triggers-corruption-concerns\/"},"modified":"2025-05-22T21:07:39","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T21:07:39","slug":"trumps-dinner-funded-by-150m-meme-coin-triggers-corruption-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/trumps-dinner-funded-by-150m-meme-coin-triggers-corruption-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump&#8217;s Dinner Funded by $150M Meme Coin Triggers &#8216;Corruption&#8217; Concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"su-note\" style=\"border-color:#e0d5e5;border-radius:3px\">\n<div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FAEFFF;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px\">\n<p><strong>Key Takeaways:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lawmakers condemned a $150M crypto-linked fundraiser, accusing President Trump of selling access through anonymous meme coin purchases.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Senators raised concerns over foreign participation and national security risks associated with the event.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The event ties into broader debates over stablecoin legislation and whether current ethics rules apply to sitting presidents.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>A group of Democratic lawmakers and ethics watchdogs held a press conference Thursday to denounce what they described as a scheme by President Donald Trump to sell \u00a0influence\u00a0 through \u00a0cryptocurrency\u00a0, specifically his \u00a0$TRUMP\u00a0 meme coin.<\/p>\n<p>The gathering, led by <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.murphy.senate.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\">Senator Chris Murphy<\/a> (D-CT), came just hours before a private dinner scheduled to take place at a Trump property. Entry was reportedly limited to the top 220 buyers of the meme coin, with total purchases exceeding \u00a0$150 million\u00a0. Attendees were granted \u00a0exclusive access\u00a0 to the president, though their \u00a0identities\u00a0 remain undisclosed.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"568\" src=\"https:\/\/cimg.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/22201121\/Chris-Murphy_optimized-1024x568.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-364127\"><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span id=\"h-trump-accused-of-selling-access-through-crypto-ties\">Trump Accused of Selling Access Through Crypto Ties<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) called the dinner \u201cessentially opening a channel for \u00a0bribery\u00a0.\u201d He raised concerns that \u00a0anonymous investors\u00a0 were buying access to the president without public accountability.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you buy his coin, you get secret access to the president to be able to plead your case,\u201d Murphy said, warning of potential involvement by \u00a0sanctioned persons\u00a0 or foreign actors.<\/p>\n<p>Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) described the event as \u201can \u00a0orgy of corruption\u00a0.\u201d She outlined a \u00a0pattern of actions\u00a0 taken by the administration that align with Trump\u2019s personal crypto interests, including the disbanding of the DOJ\u2019s crypto enforcement unit and changes at the \u00a0Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)\u00a0.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is signaling to anyone who wants a special favor and is willing to pay for it exactly how to do that,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd the corruption is already paying off handsomely for the criminals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Warren mentioned \u00a0Justin Sun\u00a0, the founder of \u00a0TRON\u00a0, stating, \u201cJustin Sun, the top buyer of Trump&#8217;s meme coin and a major investor in his family&#8217;s crypto venture, will be having an especially good time at tonight&#8217;s dinner. He just received word that the SEC has paused its fraud enforcement actions against Sun and his company.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Democrats should stand together and use our power to fix the GENIUS Act before the vote tomorrow. There is no excuse to facilitate Trump&#039;s crypto corruption. <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/hZ3dplcZAc\">pic.twitter.com\/hZ3dplcZAc<\/a><\/p>\n<p>            &mdash; Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SenWarren\/status\/1920279747684159627?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\">May 8, 2025<\/a>\n        <\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Senator \u00a0Jeff Merkley\u00a0 (D-OR) focused on \u00a0national security risks\u00a0. He cited past constitutional debates on foreign influence, warning that international actors could now use \u00a0digital assets\u00a0 to bypass transparency requirements.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a for-sale sign on the White House,\u201d Merkley said. \u201cThey absolutely want to buy influence over U.S. policy.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span id=\"h-calls-to-extend-ethics-rules-to-cover-presidential-crypto-dealings\">Calls to Extend Ethics Rules to Cover Presidential Crypto Dealings<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Representative \u00a0Sam Liccardo\u00a0 (D-CA) pointed to investor losses. He stated that 746,000 retail buyers lost billions in a coin that Trump and his family benefited from. \u201cTheir president was a crook,\u201d he said, referencing the \u00a0MEME Act\u00a0 introduced in the House to address such conflicts.<\/p>\n<p>Senator \u00a0Richard Blumenthal\u00a0 (D-CT) said Republicans had blocked his attempts to force disclosure of attendees and \u00a0foreign investments\u00a0 tied to Trump-linked crypto ventures. He urged Congress to apply the \u00a0Emoluments Clause\u00a0 and extend ethics provisions in stablecoin legislation to include the president.<\/p>\n<p>Advocates from \u00a0Public Citizen, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW),\u00a0 and \u00a0End Citizens United\u00a0 also joined the lawmakers, calling for urgent reforms.<\/p>\n<p>Speakers also noted that much of the crypto fundraising appeared to come from \u00a0overseas exchanges\u00a0, shielding the identities of buyers and complicating enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>The dinner, scheduled for Thursday evening, will take place at the \u00a0Trump National Golf Club\u00a0 and offer \u00a0in-person access\u00a0 to attendees. It comes amid growing scrutiny over the president\u2019s meme coin, related stablecoin ventures, and their intersection with pending crypto legislation.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span id=\"h-frequently-asked-questions-faqs\">Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)<\/span><\/h2>\n<div class=\"schema-faq wp-block-yoast-faq-block\">\n<div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1747944989040\">\n        <strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">What is the MEME Act mentioned by Rep. Liccardo?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">The MEME Act is a proposed bill in the House intended to prohibit elected officials from personally profiting from meme coins and related crypto schemes.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1747945001678\">\n        <strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">How does this relate to current crypto legislation?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">The event coincides with Senate debate on \u00a0stablecoin regulations\u00a0. Critics argue the current draft lacks provisions barring presidential financial entanglement in the industry.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1747945020127\">\n        <strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">Are there current legal mechanisms preventing this type of fundraising?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">While emoluments restrictions exist, enforcement has proven difficult. Lawmakers say more specific rules targeting digital asset conflicts are needed to address such cases.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The post Trump Dinner Funded by $150M Meme Coin Sparks \u2018Orgy of Corruption\u2019 Alarm appeared first on Cryptonews.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/category\/finance\/\">Finance and Crypto News-10<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways: Lawmakers condemned a $150M crypto-linked fundraiser, accusing President Trump of selling access through anonymous meme coin purchases. Senators raised concerns over foreign participation and national security risks associated with the event. The event ties into broader debates over stablecoin legislation and whether current ethics rules apply to sitting presidents. A group of Democratic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":108984,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23832],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}