Trump’s Major Investors Secure $174 Million in Tokens Before Dinner with the President

The compilation of the primary holders of US President Donald Trump’s memecoin has been completed prior to background verifications for those wishing to apply for a dinner and “VIP tour” with the president on May 22.

In a May 12 X post, the TRUMP memecoin initiative stated it would cease considering further acquisitions for a dinner with the president, mentioning that the leading tokenholders had been informed to undergo background checks if they desired to participate.

As per statistics provided on the initiative’s leaderboard, the leading 220 wallets possessed over 13.7 million tokens as of May 12, valued at approximately $174 million at the time of publication.

It remains uncertain whether any of the wallet holders will opt to apply for and attend the dinner with Trump, or the “exclusive gathering” anticipated to occur in the White House for the top 25 holders, on May 22. A Bloomberg report from May 7 indicated that a significant portion of tokenholders were located outside of the United States, raising potential security issues and conflicts of interest.

Numerous US lawmakers and individuals within the crypto sector condemned the president for introducing the memecoin merely days before his inauguration on Jan. 20. Following his dinner announcement on April 23, the calls for congressional scrutiny and accusations of corruption have escalated, with one senator demanding Trump’s impeachment and other representatives refusing to entertain crypto-related legislation until their concerns were resolved.

Related: FT report indicates prior awareness of Melania Trump memecoin launch

Entities seemingly seeking to influence Trump’s policies have put money into the memecoin. In April, Freight Technologies announced plans to invest $20 million in the token, implying it could impact the president’s trade conflict between the US and Mexico, where the company operates. As of May 12, the firm had not disclosed whether it was eligible to send a representative to the dinner.

Not Trump’s initial outreach to crypto enthusiasts

During his 2024 campaign, Trump held a dinner with supporters who acquired his “mugshot” non-fungible tokens, depicting a photo of the then-presidential candidate upon his surrender to authorities on charges attempting to overturn the 2020 election.

Many of the “mugshot” guests openly revealed their identities on social media in the lead-up to and during the event, but at the time of publication, no one appeared to express intentions of applying for the memecoin dinner. Wallets with the usernames “Sun” and “elon” sparked speculation that Tron founder Justin Sun and Tesla CEO Elon Musk — both Trump supporters with financial ties to Trump’s presidency — could potentially be among the attendees.

Magazine: Trump’s crypto endeavors raise conflict of interest, insider trading concerns